On March 12 , 2009 , Cougar Helicopters Flight 91 , flying from St. John 's to an off-shore oil platform in the Hibernia oilfield , ditched in the ocean . Of the eighteen crew and passengers aboard , only one survived . The Canada-Newfoundland Offshore Petroleum Board , a joint federal-provincial regulator , established the Offshore Helicopter Safety Inquiry Commission to investigate the accident and to make safety recommendations . Wells was named as the commissioner of the inquiry . After extensive hearings , he produced a two volume report and recommendations . One of his key recommendations was that an independent safety regulator be created for the offshore , and given a clear and unambiguous safety mandate
Cougar Helicopters Flight 91
Cougar Helicopters Flight 91
Robert Wells (Canadian politician)