Flawed information kept chopper waiting over fatal sinking, families told

A mistake in communications left a search and rescue helicopter hovering over the scene where two Newfoundland mariners died in January, a report has found.

CBC News has obtained some of a fact-finding report on the response to the sinking of the Check-Mate III north of Trinity Bay.

The Department of National Defence released copies of the report to the families of Wade Oram, 32, and Larry Parsons, 69, who perished waiting for rescue.

At least one of the men was moving when a helicopter arrived on the scene that night.

Family members have criticized the rescue effort because the chopper crew hovered over the men for 14 minutes while they waited for a Canadian Coast Guard fast-rescue craft.

They were told it would be there in two minutes.

Maj. John Van Oosten, who oversees the search and rescue program in Atlantic Canada, said that was a misunderstanding.

"The information that they were given led them to believe that the fast-rescue craft was going to be there quicker," Van Oosten told CBC News.

Van Oosten said information was being relayed back and forth between the helicopter crew and the command of the Canadian Coast Guard vessel George R. Pearkes, which Van Oosten described as being intensely busy at the time.

"Because the communication was so short and to the point, there was a misperception, I guess, of how long it would take for the vessel to get there," Van Oosten said.

A few minutes later, however, the helicopter crew found out the fast-rescue craft would be another five or 10 minutes.

Lori White, the daughter of Larry Parsons, said those minutes were critical.

"If they would have went in when they first arrived and taken them out of the water, they would have had a fighting chance," White said in an interview.

However, Van Oosten said he could not speculate on what might have happened with better information.

Moreover, defence officials stand by the decision to leave the men in the water while waiting for the fast-rescue craft, on grounds that hoisting them out of icy, stormy water could have caused heart attacks or serious injuries.

White said she does not accept that explanation.

"I feel they should take responsibility for making a bad judgment call," she said.

Meanwhile, a lawyer representing the families has asked military officials to respond to a list of questions they have arising from the report.