ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — It was a flight that should have lasted 20 minutes. But the crash that killed six men has been affecting the families left behind for three and a half decades.
Erin Woodfine’s father, Bernard (Copper) Murphy, was one of the men who died in the Universal Helicopters crash in Placentia Bay in 1985. She was six years old at the time, and says her memories are vague.
“I remember being told that his helicopter crashed, but I don’t actually remember being told that he died,” she said.
At 10:45 p.m, on March 13, 1985, a helicopter owned by Universal Helicopters left the oil rig Bowdrill I, which was moored in Placentia Bay to undergo maintenance, with her father and five other men onboard. Less than 1,500 metres from the rig, the helicopter crashed.
Woodfine remembers waking up that morning and walking into the kitchen of her home. The radio was on and her mother was near the stove, crying uncontrollably.
She also remembers later kneeling at the coffin with her brother.
And though she’s not entirely sure why, she remembers one particular moment in school.
“I remember being at a water fountain and there was some kid next to me,” she said. “The kid said, ‘Oh, you’re the one whose dad died in the helicopter.’ That’s a vivid memory that I remember to this day.”
Woodfine’s father worked for the Newfoundland Telephone Company.
According to Woodfine’s aunt (her father’s sister) Marilyn Lythgoe, it was Bernard’s first shift back after a lengthy labour strike. Because he had switched shifts with someone, she only realized he was offshore when she heard news of the crash.
Lythgoe said she has never gotten over it, but has learned to walk through the loss. And every year, on this day, permanent scars are once again uncovered.
“The 13th of March, my thoughts are nowhere else but with my brother,” she said. “That date is branded on the negative side of your brain.”
The memory of her brother’s funeral, however, is etched in her mind as an example of the positive impact he had on those around him.
“They were told by the company … they could send a representative to the funeral,” she said. “Patrick Street was lined with (Newfoundland) Telephone Company vehicles. It was almost like an honour guard. (They) were doing something they weren’t supposed to be doing, to honour him.”
Hilda Buckles, who was married to Capt. Gary Freeman Fowlow at the time, says this time of year brings back the shock of it all.
“When we got the news, I knew in my gut,” she says.
Buckles was 30 and her husband was 33. They had two children.
Because the crash was at sea, she says, the pain and suffering was extended, as the search for the bodies dragged on.
“It took many days to find them all, many days for the funerals and the wakes,” she said.
It wasn’t until 10 days later that her husband was buried.
Buckles said, despite the impact the crash has had on the families of the men who died, there is no other way but to continue through life, while keeping their memories alive.
“(My grandchildren) know who their poppy was and they know a lot about him through my children’s eyes,” Buckles said. “It’s just the way that it is. You can’t answer (what the impact has been) because they were young enough to carry on and live their life, (while) missing their dad.”
Despite only having his memories to rely on, Woodfine’s father’s influence is often present throughout her life, she says.
“It wasn’t planned that way, it just kind of came out that way,” she said. “(My dad) was a big union man and here I am president (of my union’s local chapter).”
She says it was great to hear from her aunt how proud her father would be.
Since the day of the crash, Woodfine says, the focus on occupational safety has only become more important. When she started her current job the occupational safety committee was the first committee she joined.
She is now the chair.
“Everything has kind of come full circle for me,” she said. “I’m expressing what everyone needs to know. … Nobody should go to work and not come home. No child should grow up without a parent. It just shouldn’t happen in this day and age.”
Woodfine had to bury her mother as well when she died of a heart attack two years ago. But an unusual coincidence happened that left the already teary-eyed congregation in awe.
“When they laid Mom in the ground, a helicopter flew overhead,” she said. “We were all like, ‘Oh my god, this is unreal.’”
A memorial with the names of the six men, as well as the names of the 17 people who died when Cougar Helicopters Flight 491 crashed on March 12, 2009, was erected at Quidi Vidi Lake in St. John’s in 2017.
andrew.waterman@thetelegram.com
@AndrewLWaterman
