BAY BULLS, N.L. - As hope faded on Friday for the rescue of 16 people lost in a helicopter crash at sea, Don Drew expressed the deepening grief that swept over several fishing outports that dot the landscape of Newfoundland's Southern Shore.
"This whole area is devastated," the mayor of Bay Bulls said in an interview.
"Everyone feels it."
The search for the 16 missing people after the helicopter crash in the North Atlantic was called off at sundown Friday, with rescue officials acknowledging there appeared to be no more survivors.
One man was rescued shortly after the crash on Thursday morning and one body was recovered. The names of the dead person and the missing people were not released on Friday.
Residents throughout the province mourned the tragic end. But the loss was particularly felt along the Avalon Peninsula's east coast -- a postcard stretch of road that makes up the Irish Loop -- where many men have left the once-prosperous fishery to work in the province's offshore oil industry.
Drew said as many as seven who were aboard the ill-fated Sikorsky S-92 owned by Cougar Helicopters come from the tiny communities along the Southern Shore.
"It's just taking the life out of the area," he said.
Derrick Mullowney, one of the missing, lived in Bay Bulls, a town of 1,100 people about 35 kilometres south of St. John's.
Mullowney's sister-in-law was in tears as she spoke about the accident.
"We only buried his father about a month ago. His father died on Jan. 30 and now this," Sharon Mullowney said.
She said the 52-year-old Mullowney worked in the offshore for 28 or 29 years.
Maj. Denis McGuire of the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre said the RCMP and Transport Canada were taking over what has been classified as a recovery mission.
"We've gone beyond that 24-hour life expectancy time for someone in an immersion suit," McGuire said in announcing the end of the search in St. John's.
"The likelihood (of finding survivors) is no longer there."
The Sikorsky S-92 was carrying 18 as it ferried workers to offshore oil platforms off Newfoundland when it ditched in the ocean on after reporting mechanical problems.
McGuire said the families of the missing were "distraught" at the decision to end the search but understood there was no chance of more survivors.
"It's been a challenging day but we've come together as a group to support each other," he said.
Mike Cunningham, lead investigator for the Transportation Safety Board, said plans had begun to lift the wrecked helicopter from 120 metres of water in the next week.
"We don't know a lot about what we'll be facing," he said at a news conference in St. John's. "We want to do it safely and we want to do it as quickly as possible."
Cunningham said it's possible that balloons could be placed under the helicopter and then inflated to raise it to the surface.
But before that happens, he said a remote submersible equipped with cameras will be sent to the ocean floor as soon as Saturday to examine the wreck.
Cunningham said they will have to be careful not to damage the chopper during the lift.
"This helicopter is full of water now, so it's quite heavy and it's not designed to be lifted full of water. It's designed to fly through the air."
Crews on a Cormorant helicopter and Hercules aircraft used night-vision goggles to search a vast expanse of ocean overnight on Thursday but found no sign of those missing.
The only survivor, Robert Decker, was in a St. John's hospital. He was listed in critical but stable condition in the hospital's intensive care unit.
"He is starting to show signs of some recovery," said Trevor Pritchard, general manager of Husky Oil, operator of the Sea Rose floating production vessel on the White Rose oilfield.
McGuire said they didn't know how Decker was able to get out of the ditched helicopter.
Premier Danny Williams told reporters he has known Decker for years through his daughter and her friends.
"He's very personable, very light-hearted, very humorous, fun-loving, and a great individual," he said. "He's a typical Newfoundlander and Labradorian."
Williams said Decker was a member of a St. John's yacht club and is familiar with the water. He speculated his experience as a sailor might have helped him when the chopper ditched.
"Certainly, his recollection of exactly what happened out there will be very, very important to a lot of people," the premier said.
Williams said his office has been deluged with calls from across the country and some from around the world from people touched by the disaster.
"They've indicated their sympathies, their expressions of comfort and that their prayers are certainly with us," he said.
The helicopter, piloted by two crew members, was carrying 14 workers to Sea Rose and another two to Hibernia when it experienced technical problems.
Workers who have made the flight to the offshore platforms -- located roughly 350 kilometres east of St. John's -- say they are fully aware of the risk inherent in their jobs.
Perry White, an offshore worker since 1982, said the possibility of a crash enters his mind every time he climbs into one of the helicopters.
"But then again, when you look at fatalities for helicopters and you look at fatalities for cars, you're more likely to be hit by a bread truck crossing the road," said Perry, who was supposed to fly out to a rig later Thursday but was home sick with the flu.
"My way of looking at it is, if you let that stuff play on your mind, then you're not going to be out there at all."
