Flights to N.L. oil platforms halted

All flights to and from the platforms producing oil off Newfoundland's southeast coast have been temporarily suspended, in the wake of Thursday's helicopter crash.

Supply vessels are on standby, if needed, to transport crew from the fixed Hibernia platform, as well as the floating platforms that work on the nearby Terra Nova and White Rose fields. All are in the same area on the Grand Banks, and are more than 300 kilometres from St. John's.

Crews heading to the platforms on Thursday were sent home after they arrived at the Cougar Helicopters base, at St. John's International Airport.

Trevor Pritchard, manager for Husky Oil's operations on the east coast, said what is called "active work" on the Sea Rose platform at the White Rose field has been halted.

However, he said the platform cannot simply stop pumping oil.

"Production remains up. It's the safest way to handle this kind of situation," Pritchard told a news conference Thursday evening.

"If you stop production and start production, this kind of gas pressures move up and down. It's better to leave the facility as it stands. It's well controlled."

Fourteen of the 18 people aboard the crashed Cougar helicopter were headed to the White Rose field. Two were to have been dropped off first at the Hibernia platform, and the other pair aboard the chopper worked for Cougar.

One man, Robert Decker, was pulled alive from the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday, and the body of a deceased person was recovered.

Searchers continued to scan a stretch of the ocean Friday for any sign of survivors.