ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — A spokesman for the union representing most offshore oil workers in Newfoundland fears there will be another helicopter crash at some point.

Brian Murphy, vice-president of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union, says he wants members to have the best chance to survive.

He told an inquiry into helicopter safety today in St. John's, N.L., that choppers should be reconfigured to put the extra fuel tank outside the passenger cabin.

Murphy also said any chopper that turns back to shore for technical problems should be considered a "potential ditching" that triggers search and rescue response.

He again called for a 24-hour search and rescue chopper to be based in St. John's - as union and opposition MPs have before.

The inquiry was called after Cougar Flight 491 crashed into the North Atlantic off Newfoundland last March 12, killing 17 of 18 people aboard.

The Transportation Safety Board is still investigating the cause of the crash.

Murphy praised the "selfless efforts" of the Cougar backup search and rescue crews that responded last March.

But he said every minute a crash survivor spends in the water is too long.