Sumburgh Airport
The helicopter was normally based at Aberdeen Airport but had been based at Sumburgh Airport since 3 November 1986 to operate a shuttle service from the Brent oilfield in the East Shetland Basin. On 6 November the first flight was delayed due to an oil leak from an engine gearbox that was soon rectified and the aircraft left Sumburgh at 08:58 with 40 passengers for the Brent Field. The aircraft visited three platforms with exchanges of freight and passengers then departed Brent Platform "C" at 10:22 with 44 passengers on board for return to Sumburgh Airport. It transited at a height of , and as it approached Sumburgh it was cleared to descend to . Reporting from the airfield, the controller cleared it to land on helicopter runway 24. Nothing else was heard.