Robert Decker, 28, testified today that the Sikorsky S-92A helicopter seemed to be operating normally even after the pilots of Cougar Helicopters’ Flight 491 informed passengers there was a major problem, to don their survival suits and that they were heading to nearest land.
“Everything seemed normal, the sound seemed normal, the vibration seemed normal,” he said while being questioned by his lawyer Dan Simmons before the inquiry into offshore helicopter safety in St. John’s.
“I wasn’t concerned. Everything seemed fine.”
From his limited view of the pilots in the cabin of the helicopter, he could see notebooks being passed back and forth, hand and arm motions — the signs of the pilots being very busy.
Decker said he realized the situation was serious when the pilots called for passengers to brace themselves, which meant to get into a position to protect yourself.
“They called brace . . . it means the helicopter is going to land,” he said. “I looked out the window and couldn’t see land.”
Decker said he held tightly to the back of the seat ahead of him, the helicopter made some erratic movements, the nose was down and they were heading for the ocean.
The pilots then called for ditching, the helicopter seemed to be out of control just before the helicopter crashed into the sea.
Decker said he could see out the window and could tell when the helicopter was going to hit the ocean surface.
“I woke up in a submerged helicopter,” he said.
Decker noted the helicopter instantly filled with water and he could feel the pressure of the water rushing through.
He said it seemed the helicopter was sinking fast, “it was sinking the same as it was dropping through the sky.”
Decker described a dark helicopter cabin, but lights from the passengers’ survival suits enabled him to see.
“From inside seemed everything seemed to be in one piece.”
Decker said the water pressure made it difficult to move his arms, but he managed to release his seat belt and pull himself through the window next to his seat.
He then began a “long ascent to the surface.”
“I didn’t know how deep the helicopter was. I could look up and see it getting lighter.”
After he broke the ocean surface, Decker said he could see helicopter debris and two inflated liferafts. His hands instantly froze and though he tried to swim to the liferafts, he was limited by his injuries.
Decker said he can remember an airplane circling above him, and later the Cougar rescue helicopter approaching.
“I could feel the downdraft from rotors of helicopter,” he said.
Decker said the last things he remembers are a basket being lowered, which he couldn’t get into, and a rescue swimmer next to him.
“I grabbed at his shoulders and said ‘please don’t leave me here’.”
Decker is the sole survivor of the March 12 Sikorsky S-92A helicopter crash off Newfoundland that claimed the lives of 17 people. He began his testimony this morning.
Cougar Helicopters’ Flight 491 was heading to the Hibernia and White Rose oilfields when it ran into trouble.