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2017 Irish Coast Guard Rescue 116 crash

December 15, 2023

In the early hours of 14 March 2017, a Sikorsky S-92 helicopter operated by CHC Helicopter under contract to the Irish Coast Guard (call sign Rescue 116) crashed into the sea while supporting a rescue operation off County Mayo, on Ireland's west coast. All four crew members on board, Captain Dara Fitzpatrick, Chief Pilot Mark Duffy, winch operator Paul Ormsby, and winch man Ciarán Smith were killed.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]

2017 Irish Coast Guard Rescue 116 crash
EI-ICR, the helicopter involved, photographed in August 2013
Accident
Date14 March 2017
SummaryControlled flight into terrain in poor weather, at night
SiteBlackrock Island, County Mayo, Republic of Ireland
54°04′01″N 10°19′13″W / 54.0669°N 10.3202°W / 54.0669; -10.3202
Aircraft
Aircraft typeSikorsky S-92A
OperatorCHC Helicopter for Irish Coast Guard
Call signRescue 116
RegistrationEI-ICR
Flight originDublin Airport, Republic of Ireland
StopoverBlacksod Lighthouse, Republic of Ireland
Occupants4
Crew4
Fatalities4
Survivors0
Blackrock island
class=notpageimage|
Location of crash site

On the final report released by the Air Accident Investigation Unit on November 5, 2021. It was revealed that the probable cause was, that the helicopter was flying at 200 ft, from is intended landing spot, on night flight, in poor weather, with the crew unaware of the presence of a 282-foot obstacle in their flight path to the initial route waypoint of one of the Operator’s pre-programmed FMS routes.

Events edit

On 14 March 2017, Rescue 118 had completed the medical evacuation of an injured fisherman 250 kilometres (130 nmi) west of Blacksod, for which Rescue 116 had provided support, and was returning. Shannon ATC last had communication from Rescue 116 at shortly before the crash announcing 'making our way to Blacksod for refuel'. Refuelling is a common practice in a long-range and lengthy SAR mission. The helicopter itself did not make any mayday call, but disappeared from air traffic control radar around 12:45am and failed to arrive at Blacksod, prompting the issuing of a declaration of emergency by the Marine Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in Dublin.[11]

Rescue 118 was advised of the situation and routed to Blacksod to begin a search for the missing helicopter. Rescue 115, the Shannon Airport-based Coast Guard helicopter, was immediately dispatched to the area to aid in the search, along with a CASA CN-235 maritime patrol aircraft from the Irish Air Corps. The Irish Naval Service offshore patrol vessel LÉ Róisín arrived in the search zone at 9:00 am on 14 March. Divers from the Naval Service Diving Section and Garda Water Unit and RNLI vessels were also sent to the scene. Investigators from the Air Accident Investigation Unit attended the scene on the same day. The Naval Service flagship LÉ Eithne joined the search effort that afternoon, and both Naval Service vessels continued the search throughout the night and into the next day.

Eithne was made on-scene coordinator of the recovery mission. The Marine Institute's RV Celtic Voyager was dispatched on the night of 14 March to search using multibeam echosounders to help locate the wreckage.[12] The Commissioners of Irish Lights also sent the ILV Granuaile, an advanced multifunctional vessel, to the scene. The Marine Institute's work class ROV Holland one was mobilised onto the Granuaile in Galway harbour.

The vessel is equipped with a dynamic positioning system which allows it to operate in difficult sea conditions, cranes capable of hoisting recovered wreckage and a helicopter platform.[13] The Geological Survey of Ireland surveyed the underwater region and carried out detailed mapping where the search was focused on to aid diving teams in the recovery of the wreckage.[14] The Navy's LÉ Samuel Beckett later joined the recovery efforts and assumed command as the on-scene coordinator.[15]

On the afternoon of 15 March, a signal transmitting from the helicopter's flight recorder had been received by a team from the Irish Marine Institute using USBL equipment from a local fishing[citation needed] vessel.[16]: 27 [17] The signal emanated at around 50 metres (55 yd) southwest of Blackrock Island, 17 kilometres (9.2 nmi) west of the coast at Blacksod Bay.[18] On 16 March, AAIU investigators were airlifted onto the helipad at Blackrock lighthouse, where a significant section of wreckage from Rescue 116 was found on the high rocky island.[19] From the examination of this tail section AAIU investigators believe that the tail of the helicopter made contact with the western slopes of Blackrock.[1] The preliminary report by AAIU investigators found that the helicopter had hit the island, which was registered in the craft's GPS mapping system but not on EGPWS. (EGPWS) is a legacy capable Class A terrain awareness and warning system (TAWS) designed for digitally equipped aircraft.[20]

Intense SAR operations continued on Saint Patrick's Day on 17 March. Poor weather conditions continued to impede the search.[21][22][23]

On 18 March, the funeral for Captain Dara Fitzpatrick was celebrated, in Glencullen, County Dublin.

Air Corps resourcing issues edit

In the aftermath of the incident, the Defence Forces said in a statement that the Air Corps had originally been contacted at 10:06 pm on 13 March by the Coast Guard, with a request to provide top cover to Rescue 118 which was tasked with evacuating a fisherman to hospital from a vessel 250 kilometres (160 mi) west of the Mayo coast. In search and rescue opearations, top cover is when a second aircraft is used to relay communications between a rescue aircraft far from land and its co-ordination centre on the shore.[24] In the Service Level Agreement (SLA) between the Department of Defence and the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, the "provision and tasking of Air Corps assets [is] on an 'as available' basis".[25] The Air Corps denied the request because of a staff shortage in experienced and trained personnel,[26] which made it unable to operate an "out-of-hours" roster.[27] This meant Rescue 116 was deployed instead to provide top cover. Following the Blacksod incident, an Irish Times report highlighted how resourcing issues delayed the Air Corps involvement in the rescue, and highlighted that Air Corps' CASA maritime patrol fixed-wing aircraft have advantages over CHC operated helicopters in top-cover situations, in that they can arrive "twice as fast" and "remain circling in its higher vantage point for up to nine hours".[28]

At 1:45 am, an hour after last contact from Rescue 116, the Coast Guard made an emergency request for assistance to the Air Corps to help search for the missing SAR helicopter. The Air Corps activated its recall plan and 3 hours and 45 minutes after the Coast Guard's initial request for top cover, a CASA CN-235 maritime patrol aircraft was airborne.[28][29]

The Defence Forces said that in 2017 three requests for top cover had to be refused due to reduced availability. Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Enda Kenny, who was also Minister for Defence, said that it was "well known" that the Air Corps had lost a number of personnel such as pilots and air traffic controllers in recent years. Minister with responsibility for Defence Paul Kehoe said that reduction in the capacity of the Air Corps was notified in summer 2016 to agencies and that the Department of Defence had made other arrangements in that regard.[29][30]

Since the crash took place, there have remained safety concerns for search and rescue helicopter services in Ireland, with problems including cartographic errors and omissions, problems with the navigational software, inadequate life jackets and a lack of oversight of the Search and Rescue service.[31]

Wreckage recovery and search for the missing edit

 
Blackrock

On 22 March, the wreckage from R116 was found by the Marine Institute Holland 1 ROV after signals from the flight data recorder pinger were received as well as some items of wreckage on Blackrock. There were hopes that the bodies of the missing crew members could be found in the wreckage.[17][32][33][34]

On 24 March, Naval Service divers recovered the flight recorder from the wreckage on the sea bed on the eastern side of Blackrock, at a depth of 40 metres.[35] Air Accident Investigation Unit chief inspector Jurgen Whyte confirmed that the black box was "visually in good condition" and would be flown under escort to the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch for the data to be downloaded.[15] Later on the same day Naval divers discovered the body of one of the three missing crew members in the cockpit section of the wreckage.[1] On 26 March the body of the crew member was retrieved from the wreckage by NSDS divers and identified as that of co-pilot Captain Mark Duffy.[36]

On 30 March, the funeral for Captain Duffy was celebrated, in County Louth.

Throughout the recovery attempts weather and sea conditions have forced diving to be suspended for long periods for safety reasons. The large sea surface and underwater swells and currents around Blackrock Island have been making it dangerous for divers to operate and decompress safely from the 40m depths at which the wreckage lies. In tandem with wreckage salvage there were extensive aerial, sea and coastline searches.[37]

On 1 April, The AAIU announced no mechanical anomalies were identified from initial data from the recorders and therefore no additional safety actions would be required on similar helicopter types. The AAIU also stated they intended to make a preliminary report in the near future. A superintendent from Belmullet Gardaí said that the wreckage recovery of a section of the wreckage should take a matter of hours once suitable conditions arose to enable a safe lift.[37][38]

On the evening of 2 April, the main bulk of the helicopter was raised from the sea and placed aboard the Irish Lights vessel Granuaile. After the lifting of the wreckage, it was confirmed that there was still no sighting of either winch operator Paul Ormsby or winch man Ciáran Smith. The search for the missing crew members continues.[39]

On 3 April, the Irish Coastguard indicated to the families of the missing crewmen not to give up hope as they would continue searching for the missing crewmen. At the suggestion of local fisherman the families of the missing crewman also appealed for fishermen and seafarers in Donegal and elsewhere where wreckage debris had been found or was likely to join in the search as their local knowledge would be invaluable.[40][41][42][43] On the weekend of 8 April 2017 over 110 fishing vessels joined RNLI lifeboats, Irish Coast Guard and others in a co-ordinated sweep of over 8,500 square kilometres from Blacksod to Donegal in one of the largest sea searches in Irish maritime history. As the missing were not located the next phase would be targeted searches and vigilance of special areas of interest.[44]

Tributes edit

The Rescue 116 helicopter with the same four crew members involved in the crash was present on 1st episode of 3rd season of the Irish TV show Paramedics, after being called in to assist in the extraction of a teenage boy with a dislocated patella within a remote field, three weeks before the fatal Rescue 116 crash. Rescue 116 was unable to land in the field due to electrical cables and livestock which would have made it unsafe to land, and so, Rescue 116 was forced to return to its base. A tribute was made by the paramedics involved in the rescue of the teenage boy within the episode.[45]

Investigation edit

The investigation on the accident was conducted by Air Accident Investigation Unit.

In a preliminary report published in April 2017, the Air Accident Investigation Unit found that the helicopter had clipped the small island of Blackrock at an altitude of around 200 ft (60 m) while on approach to Blacksod Lighthouse for a refuelling stop, and subsequently crashed out of control into the sea.[46]

Final report edit

Initially the Air Accident Investigation Unit was due to release a initial version of the final report into the crash on November 2019.[47] But the report was delayed, because it needed to be reviewed, this is the first report to be reviewed in the 25 year history of the AAIU.[47]

The AAIU released their final report on the accident on November 5, 2021. The investigation revealed that the probable cause was that the helicopter was flying at 200 ft, from is intended landing spot, on night flight, in poor weather, with the crew unaware of the presence of a 282-foot obstacle in their flight path to the initial route waypoint of one of the Operator's pre-programmed FMS routes.

The report also found some contributory factors that are the following:

  • The initial route waypoint, towards which the Helicopter was navigating, was almost coincident with the terrain at Black Rock.
  • The activities of the Operator for the adoption, design and review of its Routes in the FMS Route Guide were capable of improvement in the interests of air safety.
  • The extensive activity undertaken by the Operator in respect of the testing of routes in the FMS Route Guide was not formalised, standardised, controlled or periodic.
  • The Training provided to flight crews on the use of the routes in the (paper) FMS Route Guide, in particular their interface with the electronic flight management systems on multifunction displays in the cockpit, was not formal, standardised and was insufficient to address inherent problems with the FMS Route Guide and the risk of automation bias.
  • The FMS Route Guide did not generally specify minimum altitudes for route legs.
  • The Flight crew probably believed, as they flew to join it, that the APBSS (waypoint BLKMO to BLKSD as described in legs 1 to 4 of narrative and on the map in FMS Route Guide in respect of APBSS) route by design provided adequate terrain separation from obstacles.
  • Neither Flight Crew member had operated recently into Blacksod.
  • EGPWS databases did not indicate the presence of Black Rock, and neither did some toughbook and Euronav imagery.
  • It was not possible for the Flight Crew to accurately assess horizontal visibility at night, under cloud, at 200 ft, 9 NM from shore, over the Atlantic Ocean.
  • The Flight Crew members' likely hours of wakefulness at the time of the accident were correlated with increased error rates and judgment lapses.
  • There were serious and important weaknesses with aspects of the Operator's SMS including in relation to safety reporting, safety meetings, its safety database SQID and the management of FMS Route Guide such that certain risks that could have been mitigated were not.
  • There was confusion at the State level regarding responsibility for oversight of SAR operations in Ireland.[48]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c Siggins, Lorna (25 March 2017). "Rescue 116 recovery effort to resume on Sunday". The Irish Times. from the original on 29 September 2021. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  2. ^ "Body of Rescue 116 crew member brought ashore". RTÉ News. 26 March 2017. from the original on 26 March 2017. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
  3. ^ "Search continues for three members of Coast Guard helicopter crew". The Journal.ie. 14 March 2017. from the original on 15 March 2017. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  4. ^ "Latest: Capt. Dara Fitzpatrick leaves behind 'heartbroken' family and 3-year-old son; 3 missing crew named". Breaking News IE. 14 March 2017. from the original on 29 September 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  5. ^ "Search wound down for crew of missing Coast Guard". ITV News. 14 March 2017. from the original on 14 March 2017. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  6. ^ Hutton, Brian (14 March 2017). "1 dead in search for Irish Coast Guard helicopter and crew". Edinburgh Evening News. Retrieved 14 March 2017.[permanent dead link]
  7. ^ "Irish coastguard pilot Captain Dara Fitzpatrick dies after crash". BBC News. 14 March 2017. from the original on 28 July 2018. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  8. ^ McGrath, Graham (14 March 2017). "One found and three crewmen missing in Irish Coast Guard helicopter search". Extra.ie. from the original on 15 March 2017. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  9. ^ "One dead, three missing in Coast Guard helicopter crash". RTÉ News. 14 March 2017. from the original on 15 March 2017. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  10. ^ Siggins, Lorna (20 May 2017). "Rescue 116 crew member remembered as 'selfless'". The Irish Times. from the original on 17 October 2017. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  11. ^ Siggins, Lorna; Gleeson, Colin; Pollak, Sorcha (14 March 2017). "Search for Coast Guard crew continues after one death confirmed". The Irish Times. from the original on 18 March 2017. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  12. ^ "Scanning equipment used in search for missing Coast Guard crew". RTÉ News. 15 March 2017. from the original on 15 March 2017. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  13. ^ "ILV Granuaile". Commissioners of Irish Lights. from the original on 25 March 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  14. ^ Siggins, Lorna (20 March 2017). "Rescue 116: Taoiseach meets agencies on board LE Eithne". The Irish Times. from the original on 22 March 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  15. ^ a b Siggins, Lorna (24 March 2017). "Rescue 116 search: Helicopter 'black box' recovered". The Irish Times. from the original on 25 March 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  16. ^ "AAIU Preliminary Report 2017-006 13 April 2017" (PDF). 13 April 2017. (PDF) from the original on 14 April 2017. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
  17. ^ a b "Marine Institute continues to assist Rescue 116 recovery". 10 April 2017. from the original on 24 October 2017. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
  18. ^ Siggins, Lorna (15 March 2017). "Coast Guard helicopter search: Faint 'chirp' from black box located". The Irish Times. from the original on 16 March 2017. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
  19. ^ Siggins, Lorna (17 March 2017). "Coast Guard helicopter wreckage found at lighthouse". The Irish Times. from the original on 17 March 2017. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
  20. ^ Ní Aodha, Gráinne (13 April 2017). "'We're gone': Final words of R116 crew released in preliminary report". TheJournal.ie. from the original on 14 April 2017. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
  21. ^ "Chopper gives 'top cover' to Capt Dara Fitzpatrick at emotional farewell". irishtimes.com. from the original on 21 March 2017. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
  22. ^ "Mourners gather for funeral of 'talented and generous' hero Coast Guard Captain Dara Fitzpatrick". Irish Independent. from the original on 20 March 2017. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
  23. ^ "Captain Dara Fitzpatrick remembered at funeral mass". rte.ie. 18 March 2017. from the original on 20 March 2017. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
  24. ^ "Government Learjet sent on first 'top-cover' mission". Retrieved 22 August 2022.
  25. ^ "SLA IRCG DOD" (PDF). (PDF) from the original on 19 March 2017. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  26. ^ Murphy, Paul (5 November 2021). "R116 report to question whether mission was necessary". RTÉ News. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
  27. ^ Williams, Paul (19 March 2017). "'Crisis' in the Defence Forces means our Air Corps are effectively working 9-to-5". Irish Independent. from the original on 23 March 2017. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  28. ^ a b Murtagh, Peter (17 March 2017). "Staff shortage initially curbed Defence Forces' role in Blacksod emergency". The Irish Times. from the original on 17 March 2017. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
  29. ^ a b McGreevy, Ronan (16 March 2017). "Defence Forces staff shortage led to Rescue 116 being deployed". The Irish Times. from the original on 17 March 2017. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
  30. ^ "Air Corps personnel shortages 'well known' – Taoiseach". RTÉ News. 16 March 2017. from the original on 18 March 2017. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
  31. ^ "Ongoing safety concerns for search and rescue helicopter services". RTÉ.ie. 26 October 2017. from the original on 2 January 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  32. ^ "AAIU Statement: AAIU Investigation into the loss of R116". Air Accident Investigation Unit. 20 March 2017. from the original on 24 March 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  33. ^ "22/03/2017: AAIU Statement on R116 Investigation". Air Accident Investigation Unit. 22 March 2017. from the original on 24 March 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  34. ^ "Wreckage of Rescue 116 found off Mayo coast". RTE News. 23 March 2017. from the original on 23 March 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  35. ^ "AAIU Statement on R116 Investigation". Air Accident Investigation Unit. from the original on 2 May 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  36. ^ Siggins, Lorna (26 March 2017). "Naval divers recover body from wreckage of Rescue 116 helicopter". The Irish Times. from the original on 29 September 2021. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
  37. ^ a b Siggins, Lorna (1 April 2017). "Rescue 116 crash: 'No mechanical anomalies' in analysis of black box". The Irish Times. from the original on 2 April 2017. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  38. ^ "01/04/2017: AAIU Statement on R116 Investigation". Air Accident Investigation Unit. 1 April 2017. from the original on 3 April 2017. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  39. ^ "No sign of missing crew members as R116 wreckage lifted from sea". RTÉ News. 2 April 2017. from the original on 2 April 2017. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  40. ^ Schiller, Robin (3 April 2017). "Devastated families of missing Rescue 116 men told 'don't give up hope'". Irish Independent. from the original on 3 April 2017. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  41. ^ McNulty, Anton (28 March 2017). "R116 extended search to Donegal Bay". Mayo News. from the original on 5 April 2017. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  42. ^ Schiller, Robin (4 April 2017). "'We need help of fishermen to find missing crew and end our nightmare'". Irish Independent. from the original on 4 April 2017. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  43. ^ "Sister of Rescue 116 winchman in emotional appeal to Donegal fishing community" (Radio Audio). Highland Radio. 4 April 2017. from the original on 4 April 2017. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  44. ^ McNulty, Anton (11 April 2017). "Search for missing R116 crew scaled back, but continues". Mayo News. from the original on 13 April 2017. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  45. ^ "Paramedics – Thursday, 29 March 2018". 3player. from the original on 21 August 2018. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  46. ^ "ACCIDENT: Sikorsky S-92A, EI-ICR, Black Rock, Co. Mayo Ireland 14th March 2017: Report 2017-006 Preliminary". Air Accident Investigation Unit. 13 April 2017. from the original on 17 October 2017. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  47. ^ a b Murphy, Paul (9 January 2020). "Delay in publication of R116 crash report". RTÉ News. from the original on 28 April 2020. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  48. ^ "Final Report: Accident involving a Sikorsky S-92A Helicopter, registration EI-ICR, at Black Rock, Co. Mayo, Ireland, on 14 March 2017. Report No: 2021-008". Air Accident Investigation Unit. 7 November 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2022.

External links edit

  • Final Report of the AAIU

December 15, 2023
2017, irish, coast, guard, rescue, crash, early, hours, march, 2017, sikorsky, helicopter, operated, helicopter, under, contract, irish, coast, guard, call, sign, rescue, crashed, into, while, supporting, rescue, operation, county, mayo, ireland, west, coast, . In the early hours of 14 March 2017 a Sikorsky S 92 helicopter operated by CHC Helicopter under contract to the Irish Coast Guard call sign Rescue 116 crashed into the sea while supporting a rescue operation off County Mayo on Ireland s west coast All four crew members on board Captain Dara Fitzpatrick Chief Pilot Mark Duffy winch operator Paul Ormsby and winch man Ciaran Smith were killed 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 2017 Irish Coast Guard Rescue 116 crashEI ICR the helicopter involved photographed in August 2013AccidentDate14 March 2017SummaryControlled flight into terrain in poor weather at nightSiteBlackrock Island County Mayo Republic of Ireland 54 04 01 N 10 19 13 W 54 0669 N 10 3202 W 54 0669 10 3202AircraftAircraft typeSikorsky S 92AOperatorCHC Helicopter for Irish Coast GuardCall signRescue 116RegistrationEI ICRFlight originDublin Airport Republic of IrelandStopoverBlacksod Lighthouse Republic of IrelandOccupants4Crew4Fatalities4Survivors0Blackrock islandclass notpageimage Location of crash site On the final report released by the Air Accident Investigation Unit on November 5 2021 It was revealed that the probable cause was that the helicopter was flying at 200 ft from is intended landing spot on night flight in poor weather with the crew unaware of the presence of a 282 foot obstacle in their flight path to the initial route waypoint of one of the Operator s pre programmed FMS routes Contents 1 Events 2 Air Corps resourcing issues 3 Wreckage recovery and search for the missing 4 Tributes 5 Investigation 6 Final report 7 References 8 External linksEvents editOn 14 March 2017 Rescue 118 had completed the medical evacuation of an injured fisherman 250 kilometres 130 nmi west of Blacksod for which Rescue 116 had provided support and was returning Shannon ATC last had communication from Rescue 116 at shortly before the crash announcing making our way to Blacksod for refuel Refuelling is a common practice in a long range and lengthy SAR mission The helicopter itself did not make any mayday call but disappeared from air traffic control radar around 12 45am and failed to arrive at Blacksod prompting the issuing of a declaration of emergency by the Marine Rescue Coordination Centre MRCC in Dublin 11 Rescue 118 was advised of the situation and routed to Blacksod to begin a search for the missing helicopter Rescue 115 the Shannon Airport based Coast Guard helicopter was immediately dispatched to the area to aid in the search along with a CASA CN 235 maritime patrol aircraft from the Irish Air Corps The Irish Naval Service offshore patrol vessel LE Roisin arrived in the search zone at 9 00 am on 14 March Divers from the Naval Service Diving Section and Garda Water Unit and RNLI vessels were also sent to the scene Investigators from the Air Accident Investigation Unit attended the scene on the same day The Naval Service flagship LE Eithne joined the search effort that afternoon and both Naval Service vessels continued the search throughout the night and into the next day Eithne was made on scene coordinator of the recovery mission The Marine Institute s RV Celtic Voyager was dispatched on the night of 14 March to search using multibeam echosounders to help locate the wreckage 12 The Commissioners of Irish Lights also sent the ILV Granuaile an advanced multifunctional vessel to the scene The Marine Institute s work class ROV Holland one was mobilised onto the Granuaile in Galway harbour The vessel is equipped with a dynamic positioning system which allows it to operate in difficult sea conditions cranes capable of hoisting recovered wreckage and a helicopter platform 13 The Geological Survey of Ireland surveyed the underwater region and carried out detailed mapping where the search was focused on to aid diving teams in the recovery of the wreckage 14 The Navy s LE Samuel Beckett later joined the recovery efforts and assumed command as the on scene coordinator 15 On the afternoon of 15 March a signal transmitting from the helicopter s flight recorder had been received by a team from the Irish Marine Institute using USBL equipment from a local fishing citation needed vessel 16 27 17 The signal emanated at around 50 metres 55 yd southwest of Blackrock Island 17 kilometres 9 2 nmi west of the coast at Blacksod Bay 18 On 16 March AAIU investigators were airlifted onto the helipad at Blackrock lighthouse where a significant section of wreckage from Rescue 116 was found on the high rocky island 19 From the examination of this tail section AAIU investigators believe that the tail of the helicopter made contact with the western slopes of Blackrock 1 The preliminary report by AAIU investigators found that the helicopter had hit the island which was registered in the craft s GPS mapping system but not on EGPWS EGPWS is a legacy capable Class A terrain awareness and warning system TAWS designed for digitally equipped aircraft 20 Intense SAR operations continued on Saint Patrick s Day on 17 March Poor weather conditions continued to impede the search 21 22 23 On 18 March the funeral for Captain Dara Fitzpatrick was celebrated in Glencullen County Dublin Air Corps resourcing issues editIn the aftermath of the incident the Defence Forces said in a statement that the Air Corps had originally been contacted at 10 06 pm on 13 March by the Coast Guard with a request to provide top cover to Rescue 118 which was tasked with evacuating a fisherman to hospital from a vessel 250 kilometres 160 mi west of the Mayo coast In search and rescue opearations top cover is when a second aircraft is used to relay communications between a rescue aircraft far from land and its co ordination centre on the shore 24 In the Service Level Agreement SLA between the Department of Defence and the Department of Transport Tourism and Sport the provision and tasking of Air Corps assets is on an as available basis 25 The Air Corps denied the request because of a staff shortage in experienced and trained personnel 26 which made it unable to operate an out of hours roster 27 This meant Rescue 116 was deployed instead to provide top cover Following the Blacksod incident an Irish Times report highlighted how resourcing issues delayed the Air Corps involvement in the rescue and highlighted that Air Corps CASA maritime patrol fixed wing aircraft have advantages over CHC operated helicopters in top cover situations in that they can arrive twice as fast and remain circling in its higher vantage point for up to nine hours 28 At 1 45 am an hour after last contact from Rescue 116 the Coast Guard made an emergency request for assistance to the Air Corps to help search for the missing SAR helicopter The Air Corps activated its recall plan and 3 hours and 45 minutes after the Coast Guard s initial request for top cover a CASA CN 235 maritime patrol aircraft was airborne 28 29 The Defence Forces said that in 2017 three requests for top cover had to be refused due to reduced availability Taoiseach Prime Minister Enda Kenny who was also Minister for Defence said that it was well known that the Air Corps had lost a number of personnel such as pilots and air traffic controllers in recent years Minister with responsibility for Defence Paul Kehoe said that reduction in the capacity of the Air Corps was notified in summer 2016 to agencies and that the Department of Defence had made other arrangements in that regard 29 30 Since the crash took place there have remained safety concerns for search and rescue helicopter services in Ireland with problems including cartographic errors and omissions problems with the navigational software inadequate life jackets and a lack of oversight of the Search and Rescue service 31 Wreckage recovery and search for the missing edit nbsp BlackrockOn 22 March the wreckage from R116 was found by the Marine Institute Holland 1 ROV after signals from the flight data recorder pinger were received as well as some items of wreckage on Blackrock There were hopes that the bodies of the missing crew members could be found in the wreckage 17 32 33 34 On 24 March Naval Service divers recovered the flight recorder from the wreckage on the sea bed on the eastern side of Blackrock at a depth of 40 metres 35 Air Accident Investigation Unit chief inspector Jurgen Whyte confirmed that the black box was visually in good condition and would be flown under escort to the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch for the data to be downloaded 15 Later on the same day Naval divers discovered the body of one of the three missing crew members in the cockpit section of the wreckage 1 On 26 March the body of the crew member was retrieved from the wreckage by NSDS divers and identified as that of co pilot Captain Mark Duffy 36 On 30 March the funeral for Captain Duffy was celebrated in County Louth Throughout the recovery attempts weather and sea conditions have forced diving to be suspended for long periods for safety reasons The large sea surface and underwater swells and currents around Blackrock Island have been making it dangerous for divers to operate and decompress safely from the 40m depths at which the wreckage lies In tandem with wreckage salvage there were extensive aerial sea and coastline searches 37 On 1 April The AAIU announced no mechanical anomalies were identified from initial data from the recorders and therefore no additional safety actions would be required on similar helicopter types The AAIU also stated they intended to make a preliminary report in the near future A superintendent from Belmullet Gardai said that the wreckage recovery of a section of the wreckage should take a matter of hours once suitable conditions arose to enable a safe lift 37 38 On the evening of 2 April the main bulk of the helicopter was raised from the sea and placed aboard the Irish Lights vessel Granuaile After the lifting of the wreckage it was confirmed that there was still no sighting of either winch operator Paul Ormsby or winch man Ciaran Smith The search for the missing crew members continues 39 On 3 April the Irish Coastguard indicated to the families of the missing crewmen not to give up hope as they would continue searching for the missing crewmen At the suggestion of local fisherman the families of the missing crewman also appealed for fishermen and seafarers in Donegal and elsewhere where wreckage debris had been found or was likely to join in the search as their local knowledge would be invaluable 40 41 42 43 On the weekend of 8 April 2017 over 110 fishing vessels joined RNLI lifeboats Irish Coast Guard and others in a co ordinated sweep of over 8 500 square kilometres from Blacksod to Donegal in one of the largest sea searches in Irish maritime history As the missing were not located the next phase would be targeted searches and vigilance of special areas of interest 44 Tributes editThe Rescue 116 helicopter with the same four crew members involved in the crash was present on 1st episode of 3rd season of the Irish TV show Paramedics after being called in to assist in the extraction of a teenage boy with a dislocated patella within a remote field three weeks before the fatal Rescue 116 crash Rescue 116 was unable to land in the field due to electrical cables and livestock which would have made it unsafe to land and so Rescue 116 was forced to return to its base A tribute was made by the paramedics involved in the rescue of the teenage boy within the episode 45 Investigation editThe investigation on the accident was conducted by Air Accident Investigation Unit In a preliminary report published in April 2017 the Air Accident Investigation Unit found that the helicopter had clipped the small island of Blackrock at an altitude of around 200 ft 60 m while on approach to Blacksod Lighthouse for a refuelling stop and subsequently crashed out of control into the sea 46 Final report editInitially the Air Accident Investigation Unit was due to release a initial version of the final report into the crash on November 2019 47 But the report was delayed because it needed to be reviewed this is the first report to be reviewed in the 25 year history of the AAIU 47 The AAIU released their final report on the accident on November 5 2021 The investigation revealed that the probable cause was that the helicopter was flying at 200 ft from is intended landing spot on night flight in poor weather with the crew unaware of the presence of a 282 foot obstacle in their flight path to the initial route waypoint of one of the Operator s pre programmed FMS routes The report also found some contributory factors that are the following The initial route waypoint towards which the Helicopter was navigating was almost coincident with the terrain at Black Rock The activities of the Operator for the adoption design and review of its Routes in the FMS Route Guide were capable of improvement in the interests of air safety The extensive activity undertaken by the Operator in respect of the testing of routes in the FMS Route Guide was not formalised standardised controlled or periodic The Training provided to flight crews on the use of the routes in the paper FMS Route Guide in particular their interface with the electronic flight management systems on multifunction displays in the cockpit was not formal standardised and was insufficient to address inherent problems with the FMS Route Guide and the risk of automation bias The FMS Route Guide did not generally specify minimum altitudes for route legs The Flight crew probably believed as they flew to join it that the APBSS waypoint BLKMO to BLKSD as described in legs 1 to 4 of narrative and on the map in FMS Route Guide in respect of APBSS route by design provided adequate terrain separation from obstacles Neither Flight Crew member had operated recently into Blacksod EGPWS databases did not indicate the presence of Black Rock and neither did some toughbook and Euronav imagery It was not possible for the Flight Crew to accurately assess horizontal visibility at night under cloud at 200 ft 9 NM from shore over the Atlantic Ocean The Flight Crew members likely hours of wakefulness at the time of the accident were correlated with increased error rates and judgment lapses There were serious and important weaknesses with aspects of the Operator s SMS including in relation to safety reporting safety meetings its safety database SQID and the management of FMS Route Guide such that certain risks that could have been mitigated were not There was confusion at the State level regarding responsibility for oversight of SAR operations in Ireland 48 References edit a b c Siggins Lorna 25 March 2017 Rescue 116 recovery effort to resume on Sunday The Irish Times Archived from the original on 29 September 2021 Retrieved 25 March 2017 Body of Rescue 116 crew member brought ashore RTE News 26 March 2017 Archived from the original on 26 March 2017 Retrieved 26 March 2017 Search continues for three members of Coast Guard helicopter crew The Journal ie 14 March 2017 Archived from the original on 15 March 2017 Retrieved 14 March 2017 Latest Capt Dara Fitzpatrick leaves behind heartbroken family and 3 year old son 3 missing crew named Breaking News IE 14 March 2017 Archived from the original on 29 September 2021 Retrieved 14 March 2017 Search wound down for crew of missing Coast Guard ITV News 14 March 2017 Archived from the original on 14 March 2017 Retrieved 14 March 2017 Hutton Brian 14 March 2017 1 dead in search for Irish Coast Guard helicopter and crew Edinburgh Evening News Retrieved 14 March 2017 permanent dead link Irish coastguard pilot Captain Dara Fitzpatrick dies after crash BBC News 14 March 2017 Archived from the original on 28 July 2018 Retrieved 14 March 2017 McGrath Graham 14 March 2017 One found and three crewmen missing in Irish Coast Guard helicopter search Extra ie Archived from the original on 15 March 2017 Retrieved 14 March 2017 One dead three missing in Coast Guard helicopter crash RTE News 14 March 2017 Archived from the original on 15 March 2017 Retrieved 14 March 2017 Siggins Lorna 20 May 2017 Rescue 116 crew member remembered as selfless The Irish Times Archived from the original on 17 October 2017 Retrieved 16 October 2017 Siggins Lorna Gleeson Colin Pollak Sorcha 14 March 2017 Search for Coast Guard crew continues after one death confirmed The Irish Times Archived from the original on 18 March 2017 Retrieved 14 March 2017 Scanning equipment used in search for missing Coast Guard crew RTE News 15 March 2017 Archived from the original on 15 March 2017 Retrieved 15 March 2017 ILV Granuaile Commissioners of Irish Lights Archived from the original on 25 March 2017 Retrieved 24 March 2017 Siggins Lorna 20 March 2017 Rescue 116 Taoiseach meets agencies on board LE Eithne The Irish Times Archived from the original on 22 March 2017 Retrieved 24 March 2017 a b Siggins Lorna 24 March 2017 Rescue 116 search Helicopter black box recovered The Irish Times Archived from the original on 25 March 2017 Retrieved 24 March 2017 AAIU Preliminary Report 2017 006 13 April 2017 PDF 13 April 2017 Archived PDF from the original on 14 April 2017 Retrieved 18 April 2017 a b Marine Institute continues to assist Rescue 116 recovery 10 April 2017 Archived from the original on 24 October 2017 Retrieved 18 April 2017 Siggins Lorna 15 March 2017 Coast Guard helicopter search Faint chirp from black box located The Irish Times Archived from the original on 16 March 2017 Retrieved 16 March 2017 Siggins Lorna 17 March 2017 Coast Guard helicopter wreckage found at lighthouse The Irish Times Archived from the original on 17 March 2017 Retrieved 17 March 2017 Ni Aodha Grainne 13 April 2017 We re gone Final words of R116 crew released in preliminary report TheJournal ie Archived from the original on 14 April 2017 Retrieved 17 March 2017 Chopper gives top cover to Capt Dara Fitzpatrick at emotional farewell irishtimes com Archived from the original on 21 March 2017 Retrieved 26 March 2017 Mourners gather for funeral of talented and generous hero Coast Guard Captain Dara Fitzpatrick Irish Independent Archived from the original on 20 March 2017 Retrieved 26 March 2017 Captain Dara Fitzpatrick remembered at funeral mass rte ie 18 March 2017 Archived from the original on 20 March 2017 Retrieved 26 March 2017 Government Learjet sent on first top cover mission Retrieved 22 August 2022 SLA IRCG DOD PDF Archived PDF from the original on 19 March 2017 Retrieved 18 March 2017 Murphy Paul 5 November 2021 R116 report to question whether mission was necessary RTE News Retrieved 5 November 2021 Williams Paul 19 March 2017 Crisis in the Defence Forces means our Air Corps are effectively working 9 to 5 Irish Independent Archived from the original on 23 March 2017 Retrieved 22 March 2017 a b Murtagh Peter 17 March 2017 Staff shortage initially curbed Defence Forces role in Blacksod emergency The Irish Times Archived from the original on 17 March 2017 Retrieved 17 March 2017 a b McGreevy Ronan 16 March 2017 Defence Forces staff shortage led to Rescue 116 being deployed The Irish Times Archived from the original on 17 March 2017 Retrieved 17 March 2017 Air Corps personnel shortages well known Taoiseach RTE News 16 March 2017 Archived from the original on 18 March 2017 Retrieved 17 March 2017 Ongoing safety concerns for search and rescue helicopter services RTE ie 26 October 2017 Archived from the original on 2 January 2018 Retrieved 1 January 2018 AAIU Statement AAIU Investigation into the loss of R116 Air Accident Investigation Unit 20 March 2017 Archived from the original on 24 March 2017 Retrieved 23 March 2017 22 03 2017 AAIU Statement on R116 Investigation Air Accident Investigation Unit 22 March 2017 Archived from the original on 24 March 2017 Retrieved 23 March 2017 Wreckage of Rescue 116 found off Mayo coast RTE News 23 March 2017 Archived from the original on 23 March 2017 Retrieved 23 March 2017 AAIU Statement on R116 Investigation Air Accident Investigation Unit Archived from the original on 2 May 2017 Retrieved 24 March 2017 Siggins Lorna 26 March 2017 Naval divers recover body from wreckage of Rescue 116 helicopter The Irish Times Archived from the original on 29 September 2021 Retrieved 26 March 2017 a b Siggins Lorna 1 April 2017 Rescue 116 crash No mechanical anomalies in analysis of black box The Irish Times Archived from the original on 2 April 2017 Retrieved 1 April 2017 01 04 2017 AAIU Statement on R116 Investigation Air Accident Investigation Unit 1 April 2017 Archived from the original on 3 April 2017 Retrieved 2 April 2017 No sign of missing crew members as R116 wreckage lifted from sea RTE News 2 April 2017 Archived from the original on 2 April 2017 Retrieved 3 April 2017 Schiller Robin 3 April 2017 Devastated families of missing Rescue 116 men told don t give up hope Irish Independent Archived from the original on 3 April 2017 Retrieved 4 April 2017 McNulty Anton 28 March 2017 R116 extended search to Donegal Bay Mayo News Archived from the original on 5 April 2017 Retrieved 4 April 2017 Schiller Robin 4 April 2017 We need help of fishermen to find missing crew and end our nightmare Irish Independent Archived from the original on 4 April 2017 Retrieved 4 April 2017 Sister of Rescue 116 winchman in emotional appeal to Donegal fishing community Radio Audio Highland Radio 4 April 2017 Archived from the original on 4 April 2017 Retrieved 4 April 2017 McNulty Anton 11 April 2017 Search for missing R116 crew scaled back but continues Mayo News Archived from the original on 13 April 2017 Retrieved 12 April 2017 Paramedics Thursday 29 March 2018 3player Archived from the original on 21 August 2018 Retrieved 21 August 2018 ACCIDENT Sikorsky S 92A EI ICR Black Rock Co Mayo Ireland 14th March 2017 Report 2017 006 Preliminary Air Accident Investigation Unit 13 April 2017 Archived from the original on 17 October 2017 Retrieved 16 October 2017 a b Murphy Paul 9 January 2020 Delay in publication of R116 crash report RTE News Archived from the original on 28 April 2020 Retrieved 30 April 2020 Final Report Accident involving a Sikorsky S 92A Helicopter registration EI ICR at Black Rock Co Mayo Ireland on 14 March 2017 Report No 2021 008 Air Accident Investigation Unit 7 November 2021 Retrieved 2 June 2022 External links editFinal Report of the AAIU Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 2017 Irish Coast Guard Rescue 116 crash amp oldid 1167715263, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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