Robert Wells, the retired judge who is overseeing an inquiry into helicopter safety off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador, is recommending immediate changes to increase safety. (CBC)

The board that regulates Newfoundland and Labrador's offshore oil industry has ordered companies to take immediate steps to improve the safety of people flown to platforms by helicopter.

The changes ordered Friday by the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board were prompted by preliminary recommendations from the head of the Offshore Helicopter Safety Inquiry.

The recommendations include a temporary halt to night flights and faster emergency response times.

Commissioner Robert Wells, a retired provincial Supreme Court judge, wrote the board this week to say he has heard enough evidence at the public inquiry to warrant immediate changes.

The inquiry was asked to recommend ways to make helicopter travel to offshore oil platforms safer in the wake of the March 2009 crash of a helicopter ferrying workers to platforms off St. John's. Seventeen people died in the crash of the aircraft owned by St. John's-based Cougar Helicopters.

Cougar response time below standard

"The issue about which I am now writing has for several weeks been a growing concern for me," Wells wrote in a letter to the board. "However, the evidence which I have heard at the inquiry during the past two weeks causes me to believe it is a matter requiring immediate attention."

Wells said the inquiry has heard that Cougar's response time to emergencies is more than an hour. Cougar is contracted by oil companies to ferry offshore workers to and from production platforms east of the province and to conduct search and rescue operations out of St. John's.

Wells said Cougar's current reaction time doesn't meet the highest standards.

"A full-time, dedicated and fully equipped response helicopter ready to go in 15 or 20 minutes is what is needed in St. John's and needed as quickly as possible," Wells wrote.

Cougar is able to provide faster response time in other jurisdictions where it operates, Wells said.

"I learned in the past week that Cougar has the ability to provide the kind of service which I have described, and they are already providing that service in Alaska, the Northwest Territories and the Gulf of Mexico," Wells wrote. "They contracted only last week to provide it in Greenland."

The shorter response time would mean a lot to workers and their families, Wells said in his letter.

"I believe that going forward at once with a fully dedicated first response helicopter and with substantially improved response times would reassure workers, their families and the public that safety is being treated as the priority which it is."

Companies have week to draft plan

Wells also raised concerns about night flying. He recommended it be restricted to emergencies until rescue helicopters are equipped with auto-hover and infrared devices that allow searchers to spot people in the water at night.

The board announced Friday that it takes Wells's recommendations seriously and has ordered oil companies involved in the East Coast offshore oil industry to come up with a plan by next Friday for how they will implement the changes.

The board has told the companies they must ensure Cougar has a helicopter ready to be in the air in 15 to 20 minutes during the day and within 45 minutes in the evenings and overnight. Emergency response helicopters must be equipped with technology to locate and retrieve people from the water in low visibility, the board said.

Husky Energy and Suncor Energy, two companies involved in offshore activity off the coast, confirmed late Friday afternoon that they would abide by the night-flight restriction. As for the search and rescue order, the companies said they'd work to get the board a response by next Friday.