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North Sea helicopter crash that killed 16 men 'was avoidable'

An inquiry into a North Sea helicopter crash that killed 16 men has found that it could have been avoided. Families of 14 oil workers and two crew members who died in 2009 have called for a full public inquiry.

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Super Puma 'suffered catastrophic failure' before crash

A probe by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch found that a Bond Super Puma suffered a "catastrophic failure" of its main rotor gearbox before it crashed into the North Sea, killing 16 men.

The AAIB report said that the gearbox failure caused the main rotor on the AS332-L2 model to break away and its "tail boom" was severed from the fuselage.

A Fatal Accident Inquiry, which will publish its findings today, focused largely on maintenance carried out on the helicopter's gearbox in the weeks and months before the tragedy.

Read: Fatal air crash inquiry findings published today

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