THE remaining eight bodies from the North Sea helicopter tragedy were brought back to Aberdeen today.

They were returned to Aberdeen Harbour on the salvage vessel Bibby Topaz.

On board were the final eight victims of the disaster, including Captain Paul Burnham and his co-pilot Richard Menzies.

On the ship’s deck lay Super Puma G-REDL now little more than a wreck after it plummeted from the skies above the North Sea.

Heads were bowed as the crew and dock workers silently brought the wreckage of the aircraft onto Albert Quay around 12.30am.

Tarpaulin covered the fuselage and tail.

The badly-damaged rotor blades were clearly visible as they were lifted ashore.

Scores of police officers surrounded the quay as cranes aboard the Bibby Topaz unloaded the wreckage onto the dockside.

The pieces were carefully put on to the back of two waiting Dyce Carriers Ltd lorries which left the harbour just after 4am while the Bibby Topaz pulled out of the dock at 4.25am.

Then at 4.45am a hearse, private ambulance and car arrived to collect the bodies which were to be formally identified later today.

The black vehicles then drove slowly from the scene at 5.30am.

The Bibby Topaz had been called in to help lift the aircraft after divers and remotely-operated vehicles were used to locate the Super Puma, which lay 100m (328ft) below on the seabed.

Yesterday, divers managed to remove the combined Cockpit Voice and Flight Data Recorder – which could prove vital in the experts’ inquiry into what caused the tragedy.

They removed the components from the sunk aircraft and handed them to the AAIB investigations team.

Later the remains of the fuselage and tail section were hoisted from the water and secured aboard the Bibby Topaz, which then sailed for Aberdeen Harbour.

The massive operation came after flight 85N crashed into the North Sea about 14 miles (22km) off Peterhead as it returned to Aberdeen from BP’s Miller platform.

The passengers included 10 workers from oil firm KCA Deutag.

The bodies of Raymond Doyle, Nairn Ferrier, Warren Mitchell and Stuart Wood were identified on Friday.

Mr Doyle, 57, from Cumbernauld, and Mr Ferrier, 40, from Dundee, both worked for the drilling contractor.

Mr Wood, 27, from Newmachar, was an employee of Expro North Sea and Mr Mitchell, 38, of Oldmeldrum, worked for Weatherford UK.

KCA Deutag workers Brian Barkley, 30, of Aberdeen, James Edwards, 33, of Liverpool, and Vernon Elrick, 42, of Aberdeen, were also identified by family members on Saturday.

The last of the oil workers was named as 39-year-old Latvian Mihails Zuravskis.

A Grampian Police spokesman said: “Although we appreciate that this again confirms sad news for families, the recovery of all the victims has been a priority of the investigation from the outset and we hope it will allow some comfort at this difficult time.”

Meanwhile, a full-scale investigation has been launched into the incident, which claimed the lives of all 16 on board, by the Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB).

jwilson@ajl.co.uk

Crash Victims

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