The normal practice on these flights is to wear Eighteen people were on board the helicopter.

He urged the inquiry to find ways to improve safety. "I will not be flying anymore but others will be and they deserve to do it safely," said Decker.Decker said there are clearly problems with the immersion suits that passengers wear during helicopter flight offshore. The wreckage of Cougar Helicopter flight 491. The board is trying to understand what went wrong and how to prevent it from happening again.Speaking at the inquiry in late October, TSB official Wendy Tadros said the investigation is months from completion.It is a priority for CBC to create a website that is accessible to all Canadians including people with visual, hearing, motor and cognitive challenges.Closed Captioning and Described Video is available for many CBC shows offered onThe sole survivor of a helicopter crash that killed 17 off the coast of Newfoundland this spring says he was lucky to survive the crash and believes that his training as a sailor may have helped. The sole survivor of a helicopter crash that killed 17 off the coast of Newfoundland this spring says he was lucky to survive the crash and believes that his training as a sailor may have helped. "It was a very long ascent to the surface. "I was young, healthy and fit when this happened. Robert Decker, the lone survivor of a helicopter crash that killed 17 people off Newfoundland's east coast, arrives at the inquiry into the incident in … On route to the SeaRose FPSO at the White Rose Oilfield, a fatality of unforgettable proportion happened. The helicopter lost oil pressure in the main gearbox, issued a mayday and tried to return to St. John’s. "Earlier Thursday Decker said he doesn't remember the moment the chopper hit the water. Cougar Helicopters Flight 491 ditched on 12, March, 2009. "Decker remained calm during his testimony but fought back tears when he thanked the Cougar rescue crew that saved him. I got to the surface and I thought, 'I survived a helicopter crash.' It was dark but you could see the lights of the passengers' suits. I remember grabbing him and saying: 'Please don't leave me here,' and that is the last thing I remember. Family members of those who died were among the 90 people in the room where Decker testified. The sole survivor of the crash was a 4-year-old girl named Cecelia Cichan, who was seriously injured.

"On the surface, he saw debris from the helicopter and two inflated life-rafts.Decker said he saw a fixed wing plane fly low over the crash site.Decker said he was getting cold and losing consciousness because of the cold water.He said it prevented him from putting on the gloves and hood of his survival suit.He recalled a Cougar search-and-rescue crew arriving and a rescue crew member talking to him. The aircraft lost electrical power, interrupting the data record. Cougar 91 is a regular 90-minute, 315 km shuttle flight from Weather conditions were reported as "good", with the water at 0 °C (32 °F), waves at 2–3 metres (7–10 ft), and winds at 37 kilometres per hour (23 mph). I was alarmed that this had happened. It sank port-side down.

Remembering my brother Pete, his co-workers and their families on 11th anniversary of the Loss of Cougar Flight 491 on March 12th 2009.

The sole survivor of a helicopter crash that killed 17 off the coast of Newfoundland this spring says he was lucky to survive the crash and believes that his training as a sailor may have helped.

The aircraft descended at 1,000 feet per minute (5.1 m/s). I think it may have helped me escape. The sole survivor was flown to hospital at St. John's in critical but stable condition with fractures and with salt water in his lungs.TSB identified a broken titanium stud as part of the gearbox oil filter assembly. "It could have been someone else who survived instead of me. Many times I've been thrown overboard. The deadliest aviation disaster which had a sole survivor was Northwest Airlines Flight 255, which crashed in Romulus, Michigan on 16 August 1987, killing 154 out of the 155 people on board the aircraft, as well as two people on the ground. I was on the starboard side. The lawsuit alleged that Sikorsky "fradulently misrepresented" the ability of the S-92 helicopter to run for 30 minutes after losing oil pressure, and further failed to notify operators of the severity of a similar incident in Australia in 2008.The accident is featured in the seventh episode of Season 20 of Damage analysis indicated that it struck the water belly-down and tail first with an acceleration of 20 In 2003, the S-92A initially failed a FAR/JAR-29 additional oil system loss of lubrication test (sometimes called the "run dry" test) conducted to determine whether it could sustain 30-minute operation without main gearbox lubrication, failing after 10 minutes.All offshore helicopter flights from St Johns were suspended following the accident.On 16 June 2009, the FAA released an additional Airworthiness Directive, The Inquiry Commissioner took some interim measures to secure improved emergency response times in the North West Atlantic pending completion of the Commission's Report.In June 2009, the sole survivor and the families of the 15 passengers who died in the accident filed a U.S lawsuit against Sikorsky and its subsidiary Keystone Helicopter Corporation.A public Commission of Inquiry into the accident (the Offshore Helicopter Safety Inquiry), headed by retired Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court judge In June 2010, Cougar Helicopters and its insurer filed a lawsuit against the aircraft manufacturer (Sikorsky), requesting more than $25 million in damages. The names of Cougar Helicopters Flight 491 victims - Keith Escott of St. John's and Gregory Morris of Outer Cove - were made public today. The names are included in a list being used for … Cougar Helicopters Flight 91 (also known as Flight 491) was a scheduled flight of a Cougar Sikorsky S-92A (Registration C-GZCH) which ditched on 12 March 2009 en route to the SeaRose FPSO in the White Rose oil field and Hibernia Platform in the Hibernia oilfield off the coast of Newfoundland 55 kilometres (34 mi) east-southeast of St. John's, Newfoundland.