Helicopter operator CHC Scotia is encouraging greater use of automation in its flights in the wake of the Aug. 23 crash of a Super Puma as it approached a Shetland Islands airport. CHC is urging crews to "default" to the use of onboard automated systems after U.K. air-accident investigators reported a loss of airspeed during the approach of a Eurocopter AS332L2 Super Puma, G-WNSB, was "unobserved" by the pilot and co-pilot moments before it crashed into the North Sea. Four oil workers died when the Super Puma ditched while on approach to Sumburgh Airport after a flight from Airbus A330 over the Atlantic Ocean, where it has been suggested that pilots had become overreliant on automation in the cockpit. CHC's thinking is in line with that of helicopter manufacturers, who are advocating the increased use of automation into the cockpit.
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