North Sea helicopter crash: 'lessons have been learned'

The families of the 16 men who died in a helicopter crash in the North Sea in 2009 have criticised the length of the inquiry.

Read: Helicopter operator failures blamed for fatal crash

Speaking at a news conference in Aberdeen, their lawyer Chris Gordon reiterated calls for a public inquiry and asked the Crown Office to revisit the question of whether there should be prosecutions. He said:

"It is five years since this accident happened. The inquiry has taken far too long.

Many of the witnesses could simply not remember anything. It is an appalling state of affairs which the families all agree with."

More: Helicopter operator says findings have not been proved beyond reasonable doubt

A statement from Bond Offshore said: "We have always accepted that we made mistakes through honest confusion over telephone calls and emails.

"Lessons needed to be learned, lessons have been learned and lessons continue to be learned."

An inquiry into a North Sea helicopter crash that killed 16 men has found that the crash might have been avoided.

Fourteen oil workers, including David Rae from Dumfries, and two crew died when a Bond Super Puma plunged into the water off the Aberdeenshire coast on April 1, 2009.

A six-week fatal accident inquiry (FAI) into the circumstances of the crash was held before Sheriff Principal Derek Pyle at Aberdeen's Town House earlier this year.

Sheriff Pyle found that the accident might have been avoided if several failures by Bond had not occurred.