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Oil Rig Workers Chopper Down Newfoundland Oil Rig
Picture: Hibernia Newfoundland Oil Rig Update: One RESCUED One Body Found - 16 Not Found http://www.oilpatchkids.com/
Survivor: ROBERT DECKER -Listed in Critical Condition.
UPDATE: MARCH 16 - MONDAY Hearses bring nine bodies pulled from N.L. chopper wreckage for examination
ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - Under the dark of night, nine bodies pulled from the mangled wreckage of a downed helicopter were taken in hearses to a St. John's hospital for examination early Monday as investigators came closer to concluding their RECOVERY MISSION. The unidentified bodies came ashore in St. John's aboard the Atlantic Osprey offshore supply vessel dispatched to retrieve as many of them as possible from the crash site, 178 metres below the silt and gravel North Atlantic floor. * UPDATE SEARCH FOR SURVIVORS END IN FRUSTRATION http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/1111268.html
As hope faded Friday for the rescue of 16 people lost in a helicopter crash at sea, Don Drew expressed the deepening grief that swept over several fishing outports that dot the landscape of Newfoundland's Southern Shore. "This whole area is devastated," the mayor of Bay Bulls said in an interview. *
UPDATE:
A second day of searching is underway off the coast of Newfoundland after the crash of a helicopter with 18 people on board while en route to offshore oil facilities. A body and one survivor were pulled from the North Atlantic on Thursday after the Sikorsky S-92 issued a mayday and ditched southeast of St. John's. Search and rescue crews scoured the area overnight with the help of night-vision goggles, but found no further sign of the chopper or the 16 missing people. Capt. John Harrison of the rescue co-ordination centre in Halifax says they are now plotting today's search effort. Winds are gusting to about 60 kilometres an hour and sea swells are choppy in the search area. But Jeri Grychowski of the rescue centre says there is some positive news for the search teams. ``The skies are clear, so that's good for the aircraft,'' says Grychowski. ``Swells, well, it moves things around.'' Everyone on board would have been required to wear a survival suit that could help them stay alive for an estimated 24 hours. The rescued man - Robert Decker of St. John's - was pulled from the water by another helicopter and flown to the Health Sciences Centre in St. John's. He was listed in critical but stable condition. Earlier, two life-rafts were spotted in the water, but rescuers later confirmed they were empty.
BELOW FIRST STORY: ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - A helicopter carrying 18 offshore oil workers has ditched in the Atlantic off the east coast of Newfoundland, the Canadian Coast Guard says. "There's no sign of the helicopter," said Jeri Grychowski of the Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Halifax. However, she said two people were spotted in the water, as well as a life-raft. The coast guard said the workers were with the Hibernia production platform but Hibernia was referring calls to Husky, which operates the White Rose field. The helicopter, operated by Cougar Helicopters of St. John's, went down 87 kilometres southeast of St. John's. Police were blocking the road to the Cougar office. The first call for help was placed to air traffic control in Gander, N.L., at 9:18 a.m. local time. A fixed-wing aircraft from Provincial Airlines was in the area providing "top cover," Grychowski said. A Hercules aircraft was also dispatched, along with four Cormorant rescue helicopters from Gander and Greenwood, N.S. The coast guard fishery patrol vessel Cape Roger and a supply ship were about an hour away when the call came in. Grychowski said the winds in the area were fairly strong at 37 kilometres per hour and the wave heights were about two to three metres. Deborah Collins, a spokeswoman for the Eastern Health board, said the emergency room was being cleared at a St. John's hospital. "We have gone into a state of preparation," she said. "We're still waiting for information." She added they were preparing for the possibility of "critically ill or hypothermic people."
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