Mourners gather to remember and mark 17 years since fatal Cougar Flight 491
CBC
One man who lost his younger brother in the fatal Cougar Flight 491 says he’s still keeping his memory alive.
Thursday marks 17 years since Cougar Flight 491 crashed in the Atlantic Ocean, killing 17 of the 18 crew members on board while travelling to the oil fields off the eastern coast of Newfoundland.
In the early morning hours on Thursday, a small crowd endured icy and snow conditions as they gathered on the banks of Quidi Vidi Lake in St. John's where a memorial stands that pays tribute to those who died in the Cougar crash, as well the Universal Helicopters crash that killed six people off the coast of Placentia on March 13, 1985.
Noel Breen, who lost his brother Peter Breen in the Cougar tragedy, said the day of the crash was a beautiful morning.
“You’d never figure something could go wrong on a nice day like that,” he told reporters.
Breen said he and his brother were close in age, just two years between them, so they had the same friends and played together.
“We buddied around together,” he said.
He said the memorial next to the lake is a nice spot to visit every year and pay his respects, as well as connect with the other families who lost loved ones in the crash.
As Newfoundland and Labrador plans to expand its oil sector, pushing for the development of the Bay du Nord oil field 500 kilometres east of Newfoundland, Breen said he’s worried about the distance a helicopter would have to travel.
“When you’re going out further and further all the time, but what are you going to do?”
On the anniversary of the fatal Cougar flight, people can gather for a memorial service at Elim Pentecostal Tabernacle in St. John's at 7 p.m. NT, which will also be livestreamed.
“It almost seems like it only happened yesterday. And every year it kind of, funny enough, it creeps up on you,” Rev. Christopher Fowler told CBC Radio’s The St. John’s Morning Show.
The year can pass by quickly, he said, adding that can be a typical experience for people who have lost loved ones in tragedies.
“Time just seems to be lost upon them when it comes to remembering their loved ones," he said.
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