'He just loved working offshore': Families gather to remember crew of fatal Cougar Flight 491

Elizabeth Whitten · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 12, 2025 11:28 AM EDT | Last Updated: 2 minutes ago

It's been 16 years since Cougar Flight 491 crashed successful the Atlantic Ocean, sidesplitting 17 of the 18 unit members connected board while travelling to the lipid fields disconnected the eastbound seashore of Newfoundland.

In the aboriginal greeting hours connected Wednesday, a tiny assemblage gathered on the banks of Quidi Vidi Lake successful St. John's wherever a memorial stands that pays tribute to those who died successful the Cougar crash, arsenic good the Universal chopper clang that killed six radical disconnected the seashore of Placentia connected March 13, 1985.

John Breen's member Pete died successful the Cougar crash. He says the yearly sojourn to the memorial is important to his family.

"He was a bully athlete. He was a large begetter and helium was conscionable a genuine, bully person," Breen told CBC News.

Even aft 16 years, Breen says he still thinks astir the risks associated with moving successful the offshore. But erstwhile he speaks with the different household members of the victims of that crash, they effort to enactment positive.

"I deliberation Pete conscionable loved the offshore. He could person retired astatine the clip due to the fact that helium was the oldest 1 connected the helicopter. But helium didn't," Breen said. "He conscionable loved moving offshore. And I deliberation he'd beryllium precise pleased to spot radical gathering successful his memory."

There person been information improvements since the disaster. Breen says like astir things, it tin ever beryllium better.

Annual service

On the day of the fatal flight, loved ones inactive stitchery for a service.

Rev. Christopher Fowler says it's humbling to assistance the friends and families during this time.

"What makes this memorial work reasonably unique, successful that it is precise overmuch household driven and it's household led. And it's truly a clip to remember," Fowler told CBC Radio's The St. John's Morning Show.

"All aspects of the work are done by household members. And the candle-lighting, which is benignant of the culmination of the service, is rather a moving experience."

He said helium feels a tremendous consciousness of work to instrumentality portion successful the work connected behalf of the families, adding they go done a scope of emotions, from heavy sadness, but besides joyousness arsenic they retrieve their loved ones.

He said immoderate people travel to be the work successful St. John's, coming from arsenic acold distant arsenic British Columbia. The work is besides livestreamed online, wherever those who are unable to beryllium astatine the ceremonial can ask idiosyncratic contiguous to airy a candle on their behalf.

"Every household is precise connected to this clip and inactive precise overmuch progressive adjacent erstwhile the region tends to beryllium a spot prohibitive," said Fowler.

Fowler said Wednesday's work besides recognizes that Placentia Bay calamity of 1983. While the events were years apart, the anniversaries are lone a time apart.

"Within the work tonight, we intermission for a infinitesimal wrong the work to assistance up the representation of those mislaid implicit Placentia Bay," Fowler said.

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