In February 2004, the OGP(1) Aviation Subcommittee set a long-term goal: to reduce the risks inherent in helicopter flights by 80%, down to a level comparable to that achieved by the average airline.

Shell Aircraft is responsible for promoting aviation safety across the Shell Group, a leader in the petrochemical industry, and is working actively to achieve the above objective.
Over several years, the Air Safety and Global Projects Team has developed a program called “7/7=1”. The program contains seven measures aimed at bringing the number of fatal helicopter accidents in offshore operations down from 6.4 to 1 accident per million flight hours (see inset).

Guaranteeing Maximum Safety Levels
“People that fly with us don’t have the choice, so we are duty-bound to offer them the highest possible level of flight safety”, said Matt Jennings, who is Senior Adviser for the Air Safety & Global Projects Team of Shell Aircraft International.
“The key to the success of our program is a collective effort by regulators, manufacturers, operators, and customers. We expect two things from the manufacturers. First of all, their new helicopters must meet the latest design requirements FAR (2) 29 or FAR 27 (for small aircraft), and must also integrate the latest technological advances in order to minimize risks due to technical problems.

Secondly, the manufacturers must improve the simulator-based technology to provide better training for our pilots.
We can no longer be satisfied with basic training alone. Among other duties, our pilots must be capable of flying safely at night, in bad weather and in emergency situations, and of managing crew resources, in a nutshell, of piloting a helicopter in the all the types of conditions they encounter on a daily basis.
In this respect, Eurocopter has come up with some excellent initiatives,” continued Matt Jennings.

“Eurocopter listens to its customers, and proposes solutions for them. The new aircraft in the Eurocopter range satisfy our needs, and our opinions about improvements and modifications are taken into account. Overall, the new Eurocopter helicopters meet the safety standards set by Shell Aircraft.”