Helicopter traffic.

Living here on the coast of Norway I see and hear helicopters nearly every single day.

Not since 1978 have we had a disaster like the one that happened on Friday, when 13 people lost their lives! 

Newspapers, radio and TV have been covering the tragedy where a Super Puma EC225 crashed just outside Bergen, on it's way from the "Gullfaks B" platform.

The loss for family, friends and colleagues is devastating! 

For Statoil and other oil companies, safety has been, and will be, number one.

All helicopters of the same type are grounded until they have found answers to why this happened.

In 2015 there were more than 600.000 passengers travelling to and from platforms here in Norway.

A sad day today.

Around lunch time today, a helicopter from one of the oil platforms, on it's way back to the mainland suddenly exploded, and 13 people were missing.
One British, one Italian, the 11 others were all Norwegians. It happened just outside Bergen.
People living nearby heard and witnessed what was going on. Rescue teams arrived quickly, they have found 11 bodies so far.

It is many years since there has been an accident like this involving a helicopter here in Norway.
Most of us who live in Norway know someone working offshore.....

I passed the company building tonight, and they were flying the Norwegian flag at half mast after this tragic incident.

The Heliport.

This is the place where there are people going to or from work at the offshore oil rigs.
A busy place, and sometimes people are stuck here for hours because of bad weather and no helicopters are up in the air.
Some families have their beloved ones out for weeks at a time, but then again they are back for weeks  too, so I guess it is a very special work situation, but most people get used to it.

The Heliport.

For years I have passed the heliport (next to the airport).
Last week I attended a guided tour.
There was a lot  of building activity going on inside  to make it better and more up to date.
So many people were waiting..... the weather was not good for using the helicopters that day!
Anyway, one thing that caught  my eye was when I saw all these SURVIVAL SUITS.
Many people have to wear them to and from work out on the oil rigs.
Here in Stavanger, which is named "the oil capital," there are
so many people involved in the oil business one way or another.