CASPER
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Crews recover black box with hopes of solving mystery of N.L. chopper crash
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By Tara Brautigam, The Canadian Press
ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - The painstaking effort to collect the remains of a helicopter at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean took a major step forward Tuesday with the recovery of the aircraft's black box, a device expected to unlock the mystery behind the sudden crash of Cougar Flight 491.
The chopper's flight data and cockpit voice recorder, both contained in one case, were retrieved intact from the wreckage by an offshore supply ship and sent to Ottawa for analysis by the Transportation Safety Board's engineering branch.
"I believe they're in very good condition," lead investigator Mike Cunningham said.
"They're pretty important, that's just because of the amount of information that they contain."
Hours after the Atlantic Osprey vessel brought the final seven bodies of the 17 victims to port, it departed for the crash site and crews shifted their attention to determining what caused the helicopter to plunge into the icy seas last week.
But with pieces of the fuselage scattered across the ocean floor, 178 metres below sea level, investigators face an arduous task.
"It's literally in hundreds of pieces," Cunningham said.
Two remotely operated vehicles, tethered to a cage, will snare those remnants using mechanized arms and place them in a massive metal basket capable of storing the chopper and its components, he explained.
The various parts of the Sikorsky S92-A will be hoisted aboard the Atlantic Osprey and taken to St. John's.
"Basically it's a task of picking these things up one at a time, putting them in the basket and then eventually lifting the basket to surface, emptying it and repeating the process until we have everything we can get," Cunningham said.
"Just because of the fact that it's not all in one piece ... we're looking at multiple lifts."
The recovery of evidence at the crash site, 65 kilometres southeast of St. John's, should be complete within a few days, he said.
"The relatively small items that are unimportant ... depending upon the time we have to work down there, might be left behind," he said.
Seventeen people died after the aircraft, owned by Cougar Helicopters, went down Thursday as it was ferrying workers to two offshore oil platforms.
Robert Decker, the sole survivor, is in a St. John's hospital recovering from lung injuries and fractures. The RCMP hopes to interview him later this week.
Cougar has grounded its fleet in St. John's, which services the province's offshore oil sector, indefinitely.
Cunningham spoke with some relatives of the dead Tuesday after their bodies were taken to the province's chief medical examiner's office for post-mortems.
They were grateful that crews recovered all of the bodies within days of the crash so that they could be given a measure of closure, he said.
A prayer service open to all faiths will be held Wednesday in the city at the Roman Catholic Basilica Cathedral of St. John the Baptist.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Premier Danny Williams and Newfoundland and Labrador Lt.-Gov. John Crosbie will attend.
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By Tara Brautigam, The Canadian Press
ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - The painstaking effort to collect the remains of a helicopter at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean took a major step forward Tuesday with the recovery of the aircraft's black box, a device expected to unlock the mystery behind the sudden crash of Cougar Flight 491.
The chopper's flight data and cockpit voice recorder, both contained in one case, were retrieved intact from the wreckage by an offshore supply ship and sent to Ottawa for analysis by the Transportation Safety Board's engineering branch.
"I believe they're in very good condition," lead investigator Mike Cunningham said.
"They're pretty important, that's just because of the amount of information that they contain."
Hours after the Atlantic Osprey vessel brought the final seven bodies of the 17 victims to port, it departed for the crash site and crews shifted their attention to determining what caused the helicopter to plunge into the icy seas last week.
But with pieces of the fuselage scattered across the ocean floor, 178 metres below sea level, investigators face an arduous task.
"It's literally in hundreds of pieces," Cunningham said.
Two remotely operated vehicles, tethered to a cage, will snare those remnants using mechanized arms and place them in a massive metal basket capable of storing the chopper and its components, he explained.
The various parts of the Sikorsky S92-A will be hoisted aboard the Atlantic Osprey and taken to St. John's.
"Basically it's a task of picking these things up one at a time, putting them in the basket and then eventually lifting the basket to surface, emptying it and repeating the process until we have everything we can get," Cunningham said.
"Just because of the fact that it's not all in one piece ... we're looking at multiple lifts."
The recovery of evidence at the crash site, 65 kilometres southeast of St. John's, should be complete within a few days, he said.
"The relatively small items that are unimportant ... depending upon the time we have to work down there, might be left behind," he said.
Seventeen people died after the aircraft, owned by Cougar Helicopters, went down Thursday as it was ferrying workers to two offshore oil platforms.
Robert Decker, the sole survivor, is in a St. John's hospital recovering from lung injuries and fractures. The RCMP hopes to interview him later this week.
Cougar has grounded its fleet in St. John's, which services the province's offshore oil sector, indefinitely.
Cunningham spoke with some relatives of the dead Tuesday after their bodies were taken to the province's chief medical examiner's office for post-mortems.
They were grateful that crews recovered all of the bodies within days of the crash so that they could be given a measure of closure, he said.
A prayer service open to all faiths will be held Wednesday in the city at the Roman Catholic Basilica Cathedral of St. John the Baptist.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Premier Danny Williams and Newfoundland and Labrador Lt.-Gov. John Crosbie will attend.