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By Robert Wall, Kjetil Malkenes Hovland and Andy Pasztor 

Helicopter operators serving the North Sea offshore oil and gas industry are scrambling to make backup plans after the grounding of one of their most commonly used models following a fatal crash on Friday as crash investigators step up efforts to determine why the machine went down.

An Airbus Group SE EC225 flown by CHC Helicopter Services crashed while flying to Bergen Airport from Statoil ASA's Gullfaks B oil field, killing all 13 people onboard. Norwegian and British air safety regulators imposed a ban on all EC225 passenger flights.

The cause of the accident is still not known, though the helicopter has been plagued by problems with its main gearbox that drives the rotors.

CHC on Sunday said it was bringing in extra helicopter capacity including S-92s from Lockheed Martin Corp.'s Sikorsky helicopter unit and a Finmeccanica SpA AW139.

"We are also working on a strategic plan to provide a robust longer term solution," the company said.

Babcock MCS Offshore, another major operator of offshore flights, said it had ceased operations four EC225 helicopters flown in the U.K.

"We are working closely with our customers to provide them with an operational alternative," it said.

The Accident Investigation Board Norway on Sunday said it was uncertain how long the crash probe might take, though it could be more than a year.

The process to extract information from the combined cockpit voice and flight-data recorder has started, it said. The so-called black box should provide the strongest clues to why the EC225 crashed.

The recorder is being read by Britain's Air Accident Investigations Branch, which is aiding the probe.

"Any critical safety information will be communicated. Completing a full investigation including all the factors leading up to the accident will take time, experience suggests at least 12 months," Norway's crash investigators said.

The speed with which the emergency grounding--especially of a widely used aircraft--was ordered is unusual given investigators haven't released preliminary findings. The move partly reflects the large number of fatalities, representing what is believed to be the second-largest loss of life in more than two decades involving the specific model or its predecessors.

The crash also has raised concerns among safety experts because early signs point to apparent separation of a rotor from the helicopter before impact--an unusual type of accident. At least one unofficial video of the crash shows the rotor descending on its own, and eyewitnesses described its location as hundreds of meters away from the main wreckage.

In addition, in a safety bulletin Airbus issued to its customers, the manufacturer indicated it didn't have any information about why the rotor seemingly broke off before the accident. A catastrophic rupture of that kind is comparable to an engine tearing off the wing of a modern jetliner--something that designers and operators consider virtually impossible.

Over the years, the Super Puma model has been the focus of extensive safety initiatives by industry as well as regulators from various countries.

The crash occurred roughly three years after offshore helicopters in the North Sea--joining forces with Norwegian and British authorities--launched a campaign to reassure workers about the safety of the workhorse choppers following a number of accidents and incidents. That effort resulted in operational and pilot-training changes, in addition to heightened regulatory oversight.

The AIBN said it also is being assisted by its French counterpart. Norway's Civil Aviation Authority and EASA would also participate, it said.

Local police said on Sunday they were still looking for additional helicopter parts at the crash site, and that remotely operated underwater vehicles were searching the sea bottom to retrieve the shattered remains of the aircraft. Police said the helicopter's main body had been retrieved.

The parts are being taken to the Haakonsvern naval base in Bergen for examination.

A national police ID team said it hadn't yet identified the 13 people who were on board, one female and 12 men, but all are assumed dead.

The helicopter carried oil workers from Statoil's Gullfaks B offshore platform, including employees of companies including Halliburton, Aker Solutions, Schlumberger, Welltec, Karsten Moholt and Statoil. The two pilots were employed by CHC.

Including Friday's crash, 59 people have died in helicopter accidents in Norway's offshore sector over the last five decades, or 21% of the country's total offshore fatalities, according to the Norwegian Petroleum Safety Authority. The previous fatal chopper accident off Norway happened in 1997.

Write to Robert Wall at robert.wall@wsj.com and Kjetil Malkenes Hovland at kjetilmalkenes.hovland@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 01, 2016 12:20 ET (16:20 GMT)

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