Families of helicopter crash victims join ceremony for workers killed on the job
The national day honouring workers injured or killed in the workplace has special resonance in Newfoundland and Labrador this year, coming only a month and a half after the March 12 crash of a helicopter carrying workers to an offshore oil platform that killed 17 people and seriously injured one.
Family members, co-workers and friends of the crash victims, most of whom worked at Husky Energy's Sea Rose oil platform off the coast of Newfoundland, were among the dozens of people who attended the annual ceremony Tuesday at Confederation Building in St. John's.
Some people laid wreathes and soloist Ashley Cook sang Your Last Goodbye to remember men and women injured or killed in the workplace during the day of national remembrance.
For the families of those who died on Cougar Flight 491, which was headed to the Sea Rose platform when it ran into technical problems, ditched into the ocean and sank, killing everyone on board except for one man who was rescued, was a deeply personal ceremony.
The family of Peter Breen laid a wreath to remember the husband and father who died in the crash. His widow, Janet, lit a candle to honour all 17 people who died in the accident.
Others also laid wreathes, including Hank Williams, the operations manager of Cougar Helicopters, which operated the S-92 Sikorsky helicopter carrying the workers. Williams lent his support to the mother and the widow of Matt Davis, a Cougar pilot killed in the crash.
"They wanted to do this today," Williams said. "And it was, I think, good for them to come out, as family members, to come out with us as Cougar Helicopters and do this together. Very good for all of us."
After the ceremony, the Breens and the Davises — two families united by tragedy — met for the first time, embracing and offering each other comfort and understanding.
"It's noticeable for that amount of time every day that I'm out there that they're missing, so it'll take time," said Fabian Mulrooney, the captain of the SeaRose platform. "It will take time for me. It will take time for everybody."