Earlier on Wednesday, Accident Investigation Board Norway sent a safety warning to the European Aviation Safety Agency regarding the gear box of the Super Puma helicopter.
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The ban on the Super Puma will also apply to search and rescue missions.
Since the crash, both United Kingdom and Norwegian authorities have worked closely together on the investigation, and have imposed all actions and bans jointly.
The AIBN prelimary report said the findings were of “such significance” that a safety recommendation was required to ensure the continued airworthiness of the main gearbox in all helicopters of the same type.
An Airbus helicopter H225 Super Puma, formerly known as a Eurocopter EC225, crashed April 29 off the coast of Norway after picking up passengers from a Statoil oil platform.
Based on the latest report from the Accident Investigation Board Norway, the Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority has made a decision to suspend all use of H225.
Statoil uses H225 in its SAR emergency service from the Oseberg field centre, Statfjord B and at Sola. In these areas Statoil is mobilising the necessary resources to safeguard the emergency preparedness.
The Super Puma H225 helicopter is now grounded in the United Kingdom and Norway but the manufacturer Airbus has lifted a recommendation that flights be suspended worldwide.
The helicopters, a staple for the offshore industry, were grounded from commercial traffic in Norway and Britain following the crash on April 29, but search and rescue operations were previously exempt. Investigators have ruled out human error, saying the crash was caused by a technical fault.
Norwegian investigators said they found a potentially difficult-to-detect problem with the model and were urging Europe’s air-safety regulator to act.
On Wednesday the AIBN said it had found metallurgical evidence “strongly consistent with fatigue” in a part of the gearbox, while adding it was focusing simultaneously on several different scenarios for the crash.
In May 2012, 14 people had to be rescued from the North Sea when the pilot of another EC225 Super Puma carried out a controlled ditching after experiencing problems with the main gearbox lubrication system.
It placed most emphasis on a possible failure of one of the struts holding the rotors to the aircraft, saying that could have been caused by either faulty bolts or missing safety pins.
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Design and production are the responsibility of Airbus Helicopters, while maintenance is handled by the operator, CHC Helicopter.
