Crew of Rescue 116 honoured on second anniversary of crash
Above the rumble of a rising westerly gale, the four Irish Coast Guard air crew who lost their lives in the Rescue 116 helicopter crash two years ago were remembered with prayers in north Mayo last night.
“A continuing long Good Friday” was how Fr John Loftus described the ordeal for the bereaved during Mass in St Brendan’s Church, Tirrane, to mark the second anniversary.
Capt Dara Fitzpatrick, Capt Mark Duffy, and winch crew Paul Ormsby and Ciarán Smith had been tasked from Dublin to provide top cover for a medical evacuation of a fisherman 250km off the west coast. Their Sikorsky S-92 helicopter was approaching Blacksod lighthouse to refuel when the crash occurred.
Relatives were among over 150 people at the evening service, along with representatives of the rescue agencies and those involved in the 42-day official search. Winch crew Paul Ormsby and Ciarán Smith are still missing.
Tirrane church is several kilometres from Blacksod lighthouse, which was nucleus for the air, sea, and sub-sea search effort, and a kilometre from Eachléim community hall, where support was offered to the rescue agencies and volunteers.
Last year, the families joined hundreds of people for a candle-lit vigil in stormy weather on the headland overlooking Blackrock island. This year, the island 12km to the west was also obscured in thick fog as driving Atlantic rain lashed the Mullet peninsula.
Yesterday, some of the relatives visited Blacksod lighthouse to view images recorded during the 42 search days by photographer Fergus Sweeney.
We will never forget them... They are engraved in the memory of this community
- said Mr Sweeney, nephew of Blacksod lightkeeper Vincent Sweeney.
A selection of hundreds of cards sent with donations from all over Ireland were also displayed as part of the exhibition.
The final report into the crash by the Air Accident Investigation Unit (AAIU) is at an “advanced stage”, but it is expected to be some months before it is published. It is one of three investigations into the crash — the other two by An Garda Síochána and the Health and Safety Authority.
One preliminary report and one interim statement have been issued by the AAIU, but it said earlier this month (march) that it would not be issuing a second interim statement as its focus is on completing the final draft.
Its preliminary report published in April 2017 focused on anomalies in the flight navigational information, while a separate ground proximity warning system, which is not a primary navigational tool, did not have Blackrock island in its database. The preliminary report also identified a flaw in the installation of satellite locator beacons on crew lifejackets.
An interim statement issued last year called on Shane Ross, the transport minister, for Transport to conduct a “thorough” review of search and rescue aviation operations, and recommended that CHC Ireland — the air crew’s employer —should review its safety management systems.
Three of the review’s 12 recommendations accepted by Mr Ross were given a three-month deadline. However, only one of these three has met the deadline, according to a statement from the Department of Transport.
It confirmed that the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) is “progressing” work on assuming an oversight role for civilian aviation search and rescue. The IAA is also still “engaged in discussions” with the Irish Coast Guard in ensuring it is directly engaged in regulatory aspects of the helicopter contract for search and rescue held by CHC Ireland.
CHC Ireland said this week that “all of the recommendations in the preliminary and interim AAIU reports” on the crash have “either been implemented or are in the process of being implemented — with completion expected in the near future”.
“ CHC continues to engage with all the relevant authorities on each of the recommendations,” it said.
