Helicopter crash caused by broken rotor blade

A helicopter crash in a North Sea gas field which left eleven people dead was caused when a main rotor blade fractured, a report said today.

The blade showed evidence of ‘‘fatigue’’ which may have been caused when it was hit by lightning three years ago, said British Department for Transport aviation experts.

There was no evidence of pilot error, the report added.

The Sikorsky S-76A crashed about 30 miles off Cromer, Norfolk, late on Tuesday July 16 while ferrying workers between installations in the Shell field.

The two pilots and nine passengers died in the crash. The remains of one of the dead has yet to be recovered.

Experts from the British Department for Transport’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch have spent the past few days trying to establish the reason for the crash.