is a dangerous thing, reporter Brian Callahan’s comments this evening about search and rescue response to the Cougar S-92 accident is proving what you get from complete ignorance.
Morning after update: Asking questions is one thing. Making accusations directly or by innuendo is quite another.
Questions about search and rescue in the aftermath of the crash aren’t confined to Callahan. One caller to CBC Radio yesterday afternoon and again the morning and a radio talk show host on another network tried to turn SAR into some kind of “us” versus “them”, Newfoundland versus the mainland political racket.
“Irresponsible” would be the most polite word for these sorts of ill-informed or ill-considered comments. Obnoxious might be a better word for it.
The North Atlantic is a cruel and difficult place. Working offshore in any industry is inherently dangerous and even with good training and excellent standards and equipment tragedies will occur. That doesn’t mean we accept the tragedies; it merely means we have to always bear in mind that reality.
The people who work SAR – private sector, coast guard and the air force – are highly trained and they work tirelessly to provide the very best search and rescue service that is humanly possible.
The ones I know are anything but as cavalier and irresponsible as the people making the comments about SAR over the past 24 hours.
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