Provisional date fixed for helicopter crash inquiry

A Fatal Accident Inquiry into the helicopter crash which claimed the lives of four people off Sumburgh in 2013 could be held in May.

But the seven year wait for the inquiry has reportedly been described as “deplorable” by Sheriff Principal Derek Pyle at a preliminary hearing in Aberdeen.

The Shetland Times has learned a date of 18th May has provisionally been fixed for the long-awaited inquiry, to be held in Inverness.

Provisional hearings have also been assigned for 5th March and 21st April – although they will take place in Edinburgh.

Duncan Munro, 46, from Bishop Auckland; Sarah Darnley, 45, from Elgin; Gary McCrossan, 59, from Inverness and George Allison, 57, from Winchester all died when the Super Puma aircraft they were flying in crashed on 23rd August.

The CHC-operated helicopter had been flying from the Borgsten Dolphin platform with 18 people onboard.

It crashed into the sea approximately 0.4 nautical miles south west of Garths Ness.