CHC Helikopter Service
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| Founded | 1956 | ||||||
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| Hubs | Stavanger Airport, Sola | ||||||
| Focus cities | Bergen Airport, Flesland, Brønnøysund Airport, Brønnøy, Florø Airport, Kristiansund Airport, Kvernberget | ||||||
| Fleet size | 28 | ||||||
| Parent company | CHC Helicopter | ||||||
| Headquarters | Stavanger | ||||||
| Website | http://www.chc.ca | ||||||
CHC Helikopter Service, previously CHC Norway, CHC Helikopter Service and Helikopter Service is the Norwegian division of CHC Helicopter Corporation. The airline was an independent company until 1999. It operates primarily to oil platforms on the Norwegian continental shelf in the North Sea and the Norwegian Sea, with crew change, infield shuttle and search and rescue operations. Though the global headquarters are in Richmond, B.C., Canada, the company has its main base at Stavanger Airport, Sola.
The company also operates out of the airports Bergen Airport, Flesland, Brønnøysund Airport, Brønnøy, Florø Airport and Kristiansund Airport, Kvernberget in addition to the oil installations Ekofisk, Oseberg, Statfjord and Heidrun. It also operated a public service obligation on the route Bodø-Værøy and the national rescue helicopter service for some years.
History
The company started out operating under the name Scancopter-Service A/S in 1956, using various small helicopters. But in 1966 the first steps in the Norwegian oil exploration started, and the company acquired two Sikorsky S-61 helicopters and at the same time changed its name to Helikopter Service. By 1980 the company was operating 20 such helicopters. The airline had by then been acquired by Scandinavian Airlines and Fred. Olsen.
In 1982 the company started to renew its fleet, introducing the Eurocopter AS332 Super Puma and later the Eurocopter Super Puma 2. In 1993 it also started operating the Eurocopter Dauphin with possibilities for search and rescue purposes.
In 1996 the company changed its name to Helicopter Services Group and bought the British Bond Helicopters, its Australian subsidiary Lloyd Helicopters and later the South African Court Helicopters.
CHC Helicopter bought Helikopter Services Group in 1999 and in 2000 the company changed name to CHC Helikopter Service. In 2000 the company sold the subsidiaries Lufttransport to Norwegian Air Shuttle and Heliflyg to Osterman Helicopter.
On 2 April 2009 the name was again changed to CHC Norway.
On the 26 October 2010 the name was changed back to the current CHC Helikopter Service. “By using the name ‘CHC Helikopter Service’ we are recognizing the long tradition and proud history of a company that has been serving the Norwegian oil and gas industry for almost 60 years,” said Tilmann Gabriel, chairman of CHC Norway and president of CHC Helicopter’s European Operations in a company press release.
CHC EMS and SAR services
- Norwegian Search and Rescue - CHC provides private Search and Rescue services in the Norwegian North Sea but acts in concert with government SAR operations. The CHC SAR fleet includes three offshore based AS 332L1, along with an EC225 at Statoil’s Statfjord field, which can be converted from inter-rig shuttle role to SAR duty role within 15 minutes. Several of the Super Pumas in CHC’s Norwegian fleet are prepared for the same quick change to SAR configuration.
Fleet
- 6 Eurocopter AS332L Super Puma
- 2 Eurocopter AS332L1 Super Puma
- 8 Eurocopter AS332L2 Super Puma 2
- 10 Sikorsky S-92A
- 7 Eurocopter EC 225 LP
Accidents and incidents
- On 28 June 1978 all 18 crew and passengers on Sikorsky died when it crashed 87 nautical miles (161 km) northwest of Bergen, probably because the rotor loosened from the rotor head.
- On 1 March 1988 a Super-Puma helicopter had to perform a controlled emergency landing on a cargo ship 100 nautical miles (190 km) west of Egersund. No one was hurt.
- On 16 July 1988 a Super-Puma helicopter had to perform an emergency landing in the North Sea. Everyone was picked up by another helicopter.
- On 18 January 1996 the Super-Puma helicopter registered LN-OBP was forced to perform an emergency landing in the North Sea some 200 kilometers south-west of Egersund. All passengers survived and the helicopter was still floating 3 days later. Subsequently the remains of the helicopter went for rebuilding by the students at the aviation technical school at Sola, Norway
- On 8 September 1997 the AS332 L1 Super-Puma registered "LN-OPG by Helikopter Service, while flying from Brønnøysund to the Norne oil field suffered a catastrophic main gearbox failure and crashes killing all 12 aboard.[1] Eurocopter accepted some but not all of the AAIB/N recommendations. Eurocopter's reply can be found in Appendix F to the report (page 265 in the pdf).
References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Helikopter Service. |
- ↑ "Report on the air accident 8 September 1997 in the Norwegian Sea approx. 100 nm west north west of Brønnøysund, involving Eurocopter AS 332L1 Super Puma, LN-OPG, operated by Helikopter Service AS" (PDF). Air Accident Investigation Board, Norway. November 2001. Retrieved 5 April 2010.
