Rotor blade implicated in S-76A+ crash

With more than 90 percent of the wreckage recovered, the UK’s Department for Transport’s Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) has released preliminary observations into the July 16 North Sea crash of a Bristow Helicopters S-76A+. Items recovered revealed separation of one of the four rotor blades about six feet from the blade root and a fractured gearbox casing. There was also visible evidence that the gearbox and main rotor head had broken away from the fuselage mountings, and preliminary metallurgical analysis of the separated blade indicates fatigue.