On 2 June 2016, following the crash of an H225 in Norway which revealed a potential safety issue with the main rotor assembly, the EASA issued an emergency airworthiness directive that grounded the H225 fleet; by July 2016, 80 per cent of the worldwide fleet had been grounded as a result, while some operators such as the French military continued to operate its fleet. In October 2016, the grounding order by the EASA was lifted; some countries, including the United Kingdom and Norway, chose to maintain operational restrictions for the type. Norwegian operator Statoil, who had contracted the CHC H225 which crashed, maintained it will not return to using the helicopter even if restrictions are lifted. The company has instead relied on the Sikorsky S-92 to meet its needs since the crash. By December 2016, three separate lawsuits were filed by separate H225 operators, claiming that the type had been sold in a defective state due to the flaw being "inherent".