It ain't the ghost of Bob Suggs. It's the present administration, which has stopped funding anything except the Holy War On Terror. Most of the ATC remotes in the GOM (what few there were) were taken out by Katrina and Rita. They haven't been replaced, although the oil companies got telephone and data circuits back up very quickly. The US government just won't spend the money to provide services out there, because it's too busy outsourcing port security, and keeping the brown people from crossing the border. We have to keep the brown people out, except for those necessary to work in the hotels, restaurants, and pick the vegetable and fruit crops. That costs money, and there isn't much left over for taking care of helicopter pilots. Of course, you'll never hear that on Faux News, which spends its 24/7 programming deifying our Dear Leader.
OK, rant off. I'm taking a deep breath........