10 years of grief: Families mark a decade since Cougar tragedy

Erin Morris walked around the memorial at Quidi Vidi Lake in St. John's and stopped at the spot where her father's name lies.

A public memorial and a gravesite are what she has left of her father, Gregory Morris, a decadeafter he died on Cougar Flight 491.

"It's just not fair that every single person who has a father gets to bond and do all this and do all that, but to me, I literally have to go see my dad in the ground," she said."It's just not fair."

Tuesday marks 10 years since ahelicopter carrying 18 people went down in the cold Atlantic on its way tooffshore oil platforms.

Seventeen of those passengers died, from the pilot to the cook. A decade later, people across Newfoundland and Labrador arepaying tribute to them and their families.

In the morning, each year since the tragedy, peoplegather around thememorial statue.

It's engraved with 23 names:the 17 who died in 2009, plus six other offshore workerswho lost their lives in a downed helicopter in 1985.

Families and friends of the victims have made a tradition of leavingflowers, photographs, and messages to their loved ones on the chain-link fence outside Cougar Helicopters' old headquarters at St. John's International Airport.

At Tuesday evening'sannual memorial service atElim Pentecostal Tabernacle, Rev. Christopher Fowler guided families through the ceremony, just as he has each year since the fatal crash.

The most emotional part, he said, is always the candle-lighting, which he called a sacred moment.

"It's just the part of the ceremony, every year, that you just walk away a changed person," Fowler said.

"There is no end date, as long as the families wish [for] this," he said. "Tonight is not a commemoration of the crash, or the events of that day, tonight is remembering those who were lost."

Morris was a featured speaker at thatservice.

"I was very young when he passed away so basically all I remember is he was a fun-loving person," she said. "It feels like he's still here. It feels like he's offshore. It hits you in your head that he's not here."

Morris said she feels her father's presence "every single moment of every single day."

Their lives changed 10 years ago with one horrific day. But some things will remain the same, Morris said.

"I will always be his little girl."

'Risk still persists'

On March 12, 2009, Cougar Flight 491 lost all its oil en route to the oil platforms.

According to U.S. certification criteria, that particular helicopter should have been ableto stay in the air following extensive oil loss, operating for a minimum of 30 minutes after itfirst malfunctioned, saidKathy Fox, chair of the Transportation Safety Board of Canada.

But the regulations include an exemption: if the possibility of failure is deemed "extremely remote," the manufacturer can do away with the 30-minute rule.

In Flight 491's case,Fox said, "the catastrophic failure happened about 11 minutes after."

An inquiry followed the crash, with the TSBrecommending that the "extremely remote" provision which allowed the helicopter to be certifiedas fit to flybe removed to prevent a similar tragedyhappening again.

But the U.S. federal aviation regulator decided otherwise, and that recommendation is still outstanding.

"The regulators have given an exemption to the manufacturers, that if they can demonstrate that a particular failure is extremely remote, then it's OK, in the event of that failure, that the helicopter is unable to continue normal flight for at least 30 minutes," Fox explained.

"What that means, in practical terms, is it reduces the options available to the crew to identify the situation and conduct a safe landing."

Overall, risks have been reduced since the accident, Fox said. The faulty oil filter bowl, which caused the Flight 491 crash,underwent an overhaul, as did safety procedures.

"But that being said, we believethat risk still persists," Fox said, "until and unless they remove that 'extremely remote' provision from the regulations."

Loss of a brother

GlendaRose went to Quidi Vidito remember her brother Burch Nash. Nash was 44 and had worked aboard the SeaRoseFPSO.

Rose andher family jointhe other familiesat the fence outsidethe old Cougar tarmac each year on the anniversary of the crash.

"Today is just like the day it happened."Rose said.

She remembers the good times and bad times, playing cards with Nash and arguing over taxes.

Rose said she has become close with the other victims' families, and that the inquiry into the crash has made positive progress in the offshore industry.

"It's nice to see that this inquiry and things that took place in the inquiry actually didn't go in vain, that there actually wassome good that came out of it," she said.

"It's fantastic that we've all come together because we're all going through the same thing on this particular day."

Offshore worker still mourning friends

Mike Keels stopped by the memorial Tuesday morning to pay respects to the coworkers he lost in the crash.

He's been working offshore since 1997, and knew several of the people in the downed helicopter that morning.

"It's just hard to believe it's been 10 years and 17 people gone just like that," Keels said."It's just hard. I miss friends."

Keels said it was hard to get back on a helicopter after the crash, but it was unavoidable. These days, he feels better about flying because of safety improvements made after the crash.

Even still, the memories of Flight 491 creep into his thoughts before boarding the chopper.

"It's still in the back of your mind when you're going offshore," he said."I flew in yesterday. It was a little bit hard."

Premier offers condolences

Premier Dwight Ball rose during Tuesday's session in the House of Assembly to offer his support to the families of the victims.

"It affected every nook and cranny of our province. Although a decade has passed, it's not hard to remember exactly where you were upon hearing the news of this devastating crash," Ball said in a statement.

"We're all closely knit. Coming together as a community in a time of sorrow is what we do as Newfoundlanders and Labradorians."

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