Three years later and still no answers







On Tuesday, Nov. 29, I, along with NDP Transport critic Olivia Chow, raised questions in the House of Commons regarding Cougar Flight 491. Almost four months later - on the 3rd anniversary of the tragic crash of Cougar 491 - and the federal government and Transport Canada have yet to provide answers.



Cleary (St. John’s South-Mount Pearl):



Mr. Speaker, 17 people died on March 12, 2009, when Cougar flight 491 went down after loss of oil pressure. Less than a year before, the same thing happened to an Australian helicopter, but Transport Canada failed to take action.



After the Newfoundland tragedy, the Transportation Safety Board recommended that all Cougars must be able to run dry for 30 minutes, but the Sikorsky still fails the test.



Mr. Speaker, why are we giving the Cougars a free pass at the risk of the lives of offshore workers?



Response from Transport Minister Denis Lebel:



Mr. Speaker, this was a very tragic accident. My thoughts are with the victims and their families.



My department continues to work toward addressing the recommendations of the Transportation Safety Board. We will also continue working with our international partners to develop a co-ordinated approach that would help prevent these accidents from occurring in the future.



Olivia Chow (Trinity-Spadina):



Mr. Speaker, families of the victims who died in a Cougar helicopter crash off Newfoundland want to know why the faulty Cougar gearbox was certified.



The minister will not answer. The sole survivor of the crash wants to make sure all helicopters in the air now can run dry for 30 minutes. The Transportation Safety Board agrees with that recommendation.



Why does the minister continue to allow these faulty, unsafe helicopters in the air? Why is the minister ignoring the safety of Canadians?



Label’s answer:



Mr. Speaker, the safety of the public is very important to us. We do not use these events to play politics. This is a very tragic accident. Our condolences go out to the victims and their families. I can confirm that Transport Canada has received notification that the litigation against it relating to this accident has been discontinued.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The story of Samantha Walsh

Image
Samantha Walsh, a 13-year-old, Grade 8 student from Fleur de Lys on the Baie Verte Peninsula, disappeared one Sunday evening when walking home from her Grandmother's house, and I traveled to the community to research her story. The following feature article was published in The Telegram in February 2000. ••• "Sam, who had stripped off her ski pants when she got to her grandmother’s house, didn’t bother to put them on for the three-minute walk to her house. She went home wearing her coat and hat and long johns covered by flannel pajama pants, pink with black and white lambs, bought the day before at Value Village. But Sam never made it home. 'Loves you, Mom,' were her last words to her mother." ••• Samantha’s story By Ryan Cleary, The Telegram FLEUR DE LYS — The voice is that of a child, rising with a soft and sweet delivery from a room of living hell. It’s a haunting sound, the words of  Salt Water Joys , sung by a very talented and pretty littl
Read more

A survivor’s story

Image
The above picture of Bernard Dyke, a fisherman from Eastport, Bonavista Bay, was taken about two weeks after the fishing vessel Melina and Keith II sank off Cape Bonavista on Sept. 12, 2005. Dyke, then 17, was one of four crewmen who survived after spending four hours in the North Atlantic waiting to be rescued. Four others —Ivan Dyke, Justin Ralph, Anthony Molloy and Joshua Williams — were lost. Dressed only in T-shirt and underwear, Dyke survived by clinging to an overturned lifeboat. (His story is published below.) The search and rescue response times of the military’s Gander-based Cormorant helicopters are in the news again this week with parliamentary hearings being held in St. John’s. The story of the Melina and Keith II and an investigation into response times was covered in-depth by the now defunct Independent newspaper. The first coast guard vessel to arrive on scene was the Leonard J. Cowley — 9 hours and 45 minutes after it had been confirmed the vessel went down and
Read more

Nov. 7th, Telegram letter to the editor

Making this a better place I applaud Ryan Cleary’s letter in the Oct. 31 Weekend Telegram (“Time to act, not talk”) touting teamwork as the key to forging a future for rural Newfoundland: it was eerily reflective of the premier’s front-page interview. It’s a prime example on how we all could, and should, put partisan politics and prejudices aside to perpetuate the one commonality that binds us — passion for the promise of this place. The power of that unified front is visible with the government’s prioritizing the H1N1 vaccination roll-outs this week, in light of the international crisis for Newfoundland and Labrador with changes proposed to the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) convention, and the national crisis with Quebec and the Lower Churchill quagmire. The people of this place must come first and we personified that this week. Thus, there is hope for the future. Rise to the occasion Having said that, like the tide, we need to rise to the swell of occasion as well,
Read more