Inquiry into fatal Super Puma crash to begin
All 16 men on board the Super Puma died when it crashed into the North Sea A fatal accident inquiry into a Super Puma crash in which 16 men died is due to get under way.
All 14 passengers and two crew lost their lives in April 2009, when the Bond helicopter came down in the North Sea.
Relatives said the FAI had been a "long, long time" coming.
The inquiry, which is being held in Aberdeen Town House, is expected to last six weeks.
It will be overseen by Derek Pyle, Sheriff Principal for Grampian, Highlands and Islands.
He has said his determination will be released as early as possible.
The Bond Super Puma came down off Peterhead in 2009 An Air Accidents Investigation Branch report blamed a catastrophic gear box failure for the crash, which happened 12 miles off Peterhead and left no survivors.
Investigators found that a fatigue fracture had not been picked up during maintenance.
A police investigation ended with the Crown Office deciding there was insufficient evidence for any prosecutions - a decision that angered families of the victims.
Eight of those who died came from the north east of Scotland, seven from the rest of the UK, and one from Latvia.
Audrey Wood, who lost son Stuart, 27, from Aberdeen, told BBC Scotland before the FAI got under way: "It has been a long, long five years. The suffering is exceptional, the families should not have had to wait this long.
"The FAI is used as a fact-finding inquiry, we look at it as a fault-finding inquiry.
"Hopefully we will get answers. Safety should be paramount."
She added: "Woody was always a fun-filled guy, very family-orientated. We dearly miss him."
The two crew who died were Capt Paul Burnham, 31, of Methlick, Aberdeenshire, and co-pilot Richard Menzies, 24, of Droitwich Spa, who worked for Bond Offshore Helicopters.
The KCA Deutag employees killed were Brian Barkley, 30, of Aberdeen; Vernon Elrick, 41, of Aberdeen; Leslie Taylor, 41, of Kintore, Aberdeenshire; Nairn Ferrier, 40, of Dundee; Gareth Hughes, 53, of Angus; David Rae, 63, of Dumfries; Raymond Doyle, 57, of Cumbernauld; James John Edwards, 33, of Liverpool; Nolan Goble, 34, of Norwich, and Mihails Zuravskis, 39, of Latvia.
The other victims were James Costello, 24, of Aberdeen, who was contracted to Production Services Network (PSN); Alex Dallas, 62, of Aberdeen, who worked for Sparrows Offshore Services; Warren Mitchell, 38, of Oldmeldrum, Aberdeenshire, who worked for Weatherford UK; and Stuart Wood, 27, of Aberdeen, who worked for Expro North Sea Ltd.
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