A pilots' union is appealing against a decision to hand over the black box from a helicopter crash which claimed four lives.

Eighteen people were aboard the Super Puma chopper which plunged into the North Sea near Shetland in August 2013.

Last month, judge lord Jones said he would make flight data from the incident available to the Crown Office and police in a decision opposed by the British Airline Pilots’ Association (BALPA) - which claims the move “short-circuits” work done by the Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB).

Lord Jones said making the Super Puma’s flight data available would provide an “accurate and reliable evidence” to investigators, following an appeal to have the black box released from lord advocate Frank Mulholland.

But Jim McAuslan, BALPA general secretary, said the decision could threaten the “open safety culture” fostered by the aviation industry.

Mr McAuslan said: “The 2013 Super Puma accident was tragic and it is vital the AAIB gets to the root cause and has access to whatever data it needs.

“However, providing the data in parallel to the AAIB’s investigation cuts across everything pilots and the broader flight safety community stand for. We cannot stand by while the court allows that to happen without pursuing other legal avenues to highlight our concerns and question whether it is the correct approach.

“There is a broader issue of public interest at stake here. Pilots are concerned the open safety culture it has taken decades to create, would be threatened if safety data is used to assign blame without air accident investigation specialists being given the time, space and resources to carry out their work fully. While the judge recognised he had a balancing act to perform and that flight safety was important, we are not convinced he got the balance right in this case.

“Sumburgh was one of a series of helicopter accidents in Scotland and BALPA has pressed for a public enquiry in to why this is so.”

In June, lord Jones said that although he would order for the transport secretary to make the black box available, conditions would be attached.

They include a stipulation that Police Scotland takes possession of the data and retain overall control and responsibility for it until it is returned to the Air Accident Investigation Branch. He said the results of any analysis would to be treated as confidential and only be disclosed to the Crown Office and police.

The helicopter, crashed on August 23, 2013, about two miles west of Sumburgh with two crew and 16 passengers on board. Sarah Darnley, 45, Gary McCrossan, 59, Duncan Munro, 46, and George Allison, 57, all lost their lives.

The AAIB has issued three reports in connection with the accident, one of which reported that wreckage examination and recorded data analysis had not shown any evidence of a technical fault that could have caused the accident.

The lord advocate said that in the apparent absence of any technical fault the police had asked the Safety and Regulation Group to provide an expert opinion on the performance of the flight crew.

A formal request was made to the AAIB to make the data available for the investigation, but the body said a court order would be needed. Lord Jones said his decision was not intended to create a precedent and warned that crash investigators cannot be expected to routinely disclose cockpit voice recordings.

Source: news.stv.tv

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