N.L. chopper safety fix months away: oil companies

Oil companies operating in Newfoundland and Labrador say they wont be able to fully comply with orders to improve offshore helicopter safety until late 2010.

In mid-February the board that regulates the provinces offshore oil industry ordered companies to take immediate steps to improve the safety of people flown to platforms by helicopter.

CBC News has obtained a letter an oil company representative sent to offshore workersApril 1. It updates safety improvements that have been made to offshore helicopter travel.

The letter, from Suncor Energys Gary Vokey, says that with the help of a S-61 Sikorsky helicopter, that was brought in from Cougar Helicopters B.C. operation, the first response search and rescue time has been cut in half since March 22, from up to one hour to 30 minutes.

Cougar Helicopters is contracted by the oil companies to transportworkers to offshore oil production platforms and provide search and rescue services for the offshore industry.

The oil companies letter goes on to say that after June 1, both the S-61 and a Sikorsky S-92 will provide a 30 minute response time almost twice as long as the 15 to 20 minutes now required by the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board.

Vokey, Suncors asset manager on the Terra Nova oil production platform, wrote the 30-minute response time will be maintained until a dedicated S-92 first Response search and rescue airframe with auto-hover is operational.

He said the companies have arranged to buy that helicopter but it isnt expected to be operating out of St. Johns until late 2010.

Safety improvements ordered

The changes, ordered Feb. 12 by the CNLOPB, were prompted by preliminary recommendations from the head of the Offshore Helicopter Safety Inquiry.

The inquiry, led by retired Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador Judge Robert Wells, was established to look for ways improve the safety of offshore helicopter travel.

It was set up by the CNLOPB months after a helicopter transporting offshore oil industry workers crashed March 12, 2009, about 55 kilometres east ofSt. Johns, killing 17 people.

In February, after months of testimony at the inquiry, the board told the companies they must ensure that Cougar has a helicopter ready to be in the air in 15 to 20 minutes during the day and within 45 minutes in the evenings and overnight.

Cougars emergency response helicopters must be equipped with technology to locate and retrieve people from the water in low visibility, the CNLOPB said.

A Cougar search and rescue helicopter was the first chopper to arrive at the scene when Flight 491 crashed last March. Its crew rescued sole survivor Robert Decker, 28.

Not equipped for night rescues

Until the changes were made this spring, Cougars response time to a search and rescue call was one hour. None of its three St. Johns-based helicopters was dedicated to search and rescue. One of them had to have seats removed and replaced with search and rescue equipment before responding to a call.

The Canadian military's Gander-based, Cormorant search and rescue helicopters are equipped with auto-hover equipment that enables them to perform rescues at night. Cougars S-92s arent.

One of the boards orders was for Cougar to stop night flights until the company has the equipment necessary to perform rescues in the dark.

Change recommended in 1985

When an S-92 helicopter dedicated solely to search and rescue is based near St. Johns, it will be the realization of a recommendation that was made 25 years ago by the 1985royal commission into the Ocean Ranger disaster that claimed 84 lives.

The Ocean Ranger oil rig capsized in February 1982 in the ocean east of St. Johns during a fierce storm.

The royal commissions report included the following recommendation:

"That there be required a full-time search and rescue dedicated helicopter, provided by either government or industry, fully equipped to search and rescue standards, at the airport nearest to the ongoing offshore drilling operations, and that it be readily available with a trained crew able to perform all aspects of the rescue."

In the days following the Cougar disaster last March, the retired supreme court judge who led the royal commission, Alec Hickman, told CBC News he was surprised to learn that recommendation had not been fully implemented.

"Our recommendation was to ensure that there be a fully equipped, long-range helicopter, with a standby time of 15 minutes during daylight hours, 45 minutes during night, be stationed near the nearest airport to the Grand Banks, which obviously was St. John's," Hickman said. "I assumed that was done."