Crashed helicopter found on sea floor, recovery planned RCMP name 12 of 17 killed in crash off Newfoundland's east coast
Mike Cunningham said a TSB team hopes to raise the sunken Cougar Helicopters aircraft early next week. (CBC) Mike Cunningham said a TSB team hopes to raise the sunken Cougar Helicopters aircraft early next week. (CBC)
The Transportation Safety Board has confirmed the location of an oil industry helicopter that crashed into the Atlantic southeast of Newfoundland on Thursday, killing 17 of 18 people on board, while authorities identified many of the dead.
"It looks like the fuselage is relatively intact," lead investigator Mike Cunningham told CBC News on Saturday afternoon after an underwater remote-operated vehicle confirmed the location of a Cougar Helicopters aircraft that went down in the frigid Atlantic waters.
"It is laying on the bottom, on its side. The tail boom of the helicopter is broken off, but it is laying right beside the rest of the fuselage."
The bodies were not, as yet, located, said Cunningham, but families had been notified. The search for the missing turned to a recovery effort as the sun set Friday evening, about 34 hours after the shuttle, carrying oil industry workers, went into the water about 55 kilometres southeast of St. John's.
RCMP, meanwhile, gave the names of 12 of the deceased in Thursday's crash. The other families were "not prepared at this point of time to release the names of their loved ones, and we respect that," said Supt. Reg Reeves.
One of the two crew members of the helicopter was identified as Tim Lanouette, 48, of Comox, B.C.
The 11 passengers, all but two from Newfoundland and Labrador, were identified as:
Peter Breen, 55, St. John's.
Gary Corbett, 46, Conception Bay South.
Wade Drake, 42, Fortune.
Wade Duggan, 32, Witless Bay.
Colin Henley, 38, St. John's.
Ken MacRae, 47, Greenwood, N.S.
Derrick Mullowney, 51, Bay Bulls.
Burch Nash, 44, Fortune.
Paul Pike, 49, Spaniard's Bay
Allison Maher, 26, Mount Pearl, formerly of Aquaforte.
Thomas Anwyll, 46, of Langley, B.C.
Maher's body was pulled from the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday, shortly after a frantic search began for survivors. Her funeral will be held Monday.
Only one person, Robert Decker, who works at the White Rose oilfield, survived the crash. He remains in critical but stable condition in hospital in St. John's and is being treated for multiple injuries.
Reeves said most family members are not willing to give interviews at this time. "They would like to have some privacy and respect," Reeves told reporters.
'Fairly large anomaly' led to chopper find
Earlier in the day, Cunningham told a media briefing that a TSB sonar scan had found "a fairly large anomaly," which investigators believed was the Cougar Helicopters aircraft that crashed. At that time, authorities were hoping for a positive identification of the aircraft.
Cunningham said the initial sweep showed the ground floor was largely flat and featureless.
Underwater remote-operated vehicles were in the water Saturday afternoon to glean more information about the helicopter, which may still contain the bodies of the missing.
The TSB has assembled a team of 20 people, including five experts from the U.S. who specialize in helicopters, to work on the investigation.
Cunningham said Canadian military officials have volunteered their assistance.
He said the Atlantic Osprey supply ship was also carrying RCMP investigators, as well as officials from Cougar Helicopters and Sikorsky, the chopper's manufacturer.
"If everything goes well, if Mother Nature co-operates with us, if nothing goes against us, we're hoping that we may lift that aircraft out of the water on Monday or Tuesday," Cunningham said.
He added that once the fuselage is recovered, the team will "very respectfully" remove the bodies from the fuselage.
Sikorsky S-92: detail of rotor  
The fuselage of the Sikorsky S92 helicopter that crashed in the  on Friday has been found at a depth 120 to 150 meters and is being retrieved. 17 of the 18 people who were on board the helicopter died after it crashed.

Personal belongings, upper and lower segments of the main entrance door, the aft cargo door, and one emergency exit door have been recovered.  “We totally dissect everything we can and certainly that is going to be an area that will be examined," said Mike Cunningham, lead investigator with the Transportation Safety Board (TSB). "It looks like the fuselage is relatively intact." An underwater  (ROV) is aiding in the investigation.

“The structure of the aircraft, the body of the aircraft seems to be in relatively solid state. The tail section has broken off and it is lying by the side of the aircraft which is not a problem.  We are still evaluating how it’s going to be brought to the surface but we believe it should be done relatively easily, possibly in a couple of days,” said Charles Laurence, TSB’s lead investigator of operations. 

The remaining victims may still be strapped within their five-point harnesses.

The mayday to Transport Canada aviation database reported oil pressure in the main gearbox which caused the problem.  The gearbox links the engines and transmission and is located on the top of the fuselage and under the main rotor head.

Robert Decker remains in critical at the St. John's Health Sciences Centre but has stabilised.  It is reported that he suffered a broken bone, hypothermia and had aspirated sea water.

The recovered body is that of Allison Maher from Aquaforte, , aged 26. Throughout the search and rescue there were no locator signals received from survival suits of any of those missing.

The  (RCMP) have released the names of twelve of those who are are still missing. It is a partial list, as some relatives were "not prepared at this point of time to release the names of their loved ones, and we respect that," said Supt. Reg Reeves. 

They are:
*Peter Breen, from  age 55;
*Gary Corbett, from  age 46;
*Wade Drake, from  age 42;
*Wade Duggan, from  age 32;
*Colin Henley, from St. John's, N.L. age 38;
*Ken MacRae, from  age 47;
*Derrick Mullowney, from  age 51;
*Burch Nash, from  Fortune, N.L. age 44;
*Paul Pike, from   age 49;
*Allison Maher,from  , age 26
*Tim Lanouette, from  , helicopter first officer age 48; and
*Thomas Anwyll, from   Crew member age 46.