N.L. tragedies focus of search and rescue review

A federal parliamentary committee will hear more about fatal tragedies off the coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador in the past several years when it holds hearings in St. John's this winter.

The standing committee on national defence is reviewing thecurrent policies and costs of military search and rescue crews.

"They want to look at what happened in the cases of vessels like the Ryan's Commander, the Melina and Keith II, and the Check-Mate III," said Liberal MP for Bonavista-Exploits, central Newfoundland, Scott Simms.

"These are some of the incidents that you have to look at and how we can improve upon."

Two men died whenthe Ryan's Commander overturned off Cape Bonavista on Sept. 19, 2004.

Four men died when the longliner Melina and Keith II went down in September 2005 off the northeast coast of Newfoundland.

Two men died when the Check-Mate III sank in Trinity Bay in 2008.

After those tragedies, some family members of the victims called on the military to improve its search and rescue capabilities.

Some of the military's search and rescue crews are based in Gander, central Newfoundland.

Parliamentary committee hearings are scheduled to take place in Gander and St. John's in early February.