In an open letter to Canada’s minister of transport, the lawyer representing the families of the passengers killed in, and the sole survivor of, the March 2009 crash of Cougar Helicopters Flight 491 has challenged the certification Transport Canada granted to the Sikorsky S-92A in 2005. The accident helicopter, which ditched 30 nm east of St. John’s, Newfoundland, and Labrador, was carrying 18 people. Sikorsky declined to comment on the letter.
The letter was sent a few days after the Transportation Safety Board (TSB) of Canada released its final report (see AIN, March, page 51). Attorney Joe Fiorante asserted that the report does not satisfactorily address questions relating to the S-92’s initial certification. “Transport Canada should never have certified as airworthy a helicopter that could not fly for at least 30 minutes after the complete loss of main gearbox oil,” he stated.
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