Sixteen Killed in Super Puma Crash

Police say that 16 people were killed when a Bond Offshore Helicopters Super Puma went down off Scotland's northeast coast on April 1, saying the search for eight missing people is now a recovery rather than a rescue operation. Eight bodies were recovered from the sea April 1. The Super Puma helicopter was returning to Aberdeen from a North Sea   BP oil platform when it crashed in calm and sunny conditions. The chopper was carrying 14 oil workers and a two-man crew. BP said it was suspending the use of Bond helicopters for ferrying workers to oil platforms for an unspecified period. "This is not about confidence in Bond, this is about giving Bond and its staff time to come to terms with their loss," said a BP spokeswoman. "Alternative arrangements have been put in place to cover BP's offshore helicopter operations...Nine scheduled flights will be covered by another helicopter operator. BP's oil production in the North Sea "remains unaffected," said BP. Bond said it was working with BP to resume services, and rejected calls by a trade union for all its Super Pumas to be grounded. "This is not an aircraft issue. We have every confidence in the Super Puma," a Bond spokesman said. The fatal crash was the second such incident in the North Sea this year, both involving the Super Puma. A different model of Super Puma operated by Bomb ditched in the North Sea in February, but all 18 people on board were rescued.