Irish Coast Guard Helicopter Missing off Co Mayo Coast

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Irish Coast Guard helicopter goes missing: One crew member found as search continues for three others

Very very sad. And what makes it more difficult to bear is the fact that this is a rescue helicopter... the crew were risking their lives to save others. I hope they are all found a live and make a full recovery, but these must be very difficult times for those affected and their families.

https://twitter.com/RNLI?ref_src=twsrc^google|twcamp^serp|twgr^author
 
"A Coast Guard spokesman said the missing helicopter had been providing cover in the evacuation of a crewman who needed urgent medical attention, from a UK-registered fishing vessel approximately 150 miles west of Eagle Island in Co Mayo."
 
Tragic story - my family's part of the world. The lost helicopter & crew had come over from Dublin.

Blacksod is wild and not a good place to get into trouble, I remember too many accidents with people being lost fishing there off rocks during the many summers spent on holiday.
 
Just read about this. Up to 6 months ago I lived in a small seaside village called annagassan which is about 30 mins up the coast from where that helicopter is based. I used to always notice it passing by if it was heading north along the coast. One of the pilots is from the village I grew up in.

Very sad news about some very brave people.
 
This is my sector of work and unfortunately as rare as these things are they still happen far more frequently that we would like. Thoughts to all involved!
 
So, the word on the street, in Mayo, is that in extreme fog she crashed into the lighthouse itself...tragic.
 
Preliminary report finds that the aircraft's early warning system did not have details of Blackrock or it's light house.

Cockpit voice recordings indicate that they saw the island etc at the last moment, tried to take evasive action, but...
 
Preliminary report finds that the aircraft's early warning system did not have details of Blackrock or it's light house.

This looks like it was a combination of:

(1) route planning
(2) database omission + chart clarity
(3) weather

So the holes lined up. The routing set the situation up creating the initial risk. The weather subverted the crew's ability to perceive the situation. The database issue meant that the warning system (the last defence) couldn't help them.

The professionals will focus on (1) I suspect - because it's the start of the chain.

The newspapers and media on (2) as it's easy to understand.

Safe navigation is about planning and attention to detail and confirmation. It also takes time and resource. I think this accident acts as a reminder that SAR helicopters operating in a coastal environment have small crews and high workloads just because of that environment - at the same time they are likely to operate in worse conditions because of the nature of the mission.

These people take risks but are so good at it that we take it for granted that the helicopter or lifeboat almost always makes it back.

I was staying near Fraserburgh in the winter of 1970 and the loss of the lifeboat and crew there still sit with me every time I see a lifeboat or rescue helicopter go out.
 
Does anyone know if they have managed to lift the fuselage of the chopper up from the depths yet. Last I heard they were waiting for a special lifting boat. Two crew members not yet recovered as far as I am aware.
 
I was staying near Fraserburgh in the winter of 1970 and the loss of the lifeboat and crew there still sit with me every time I see a lifeboat or rescue helicopter go out.

I was at school in Plymouth at the time of the Penlee lifeboat disaster, which being not far away and the loss felt so much more strongly in a port city. The Sea King Helicopter Pilot was an American Naval officer, Lt Cdr Smith, USN, and his commendation stands the test of time.

'The greatest act of courage that I have ever seen, and am ever likely to see, was the penultimate courage and dedication shown by the Penlee crew when it manoeuvred back alongside the casualty in over 60 ft breakers and rescued four people shortly after the Penlee had been bashed on top of the casualty's hatch covers. They were truly the bravest eight men I've ever seen, who were also totally dedicated to upholding the highest standards of the RNLI'.


It is so rare now that a disaster occurs that we forget the bravery and professionalism of people who day after day are required to preserve us from our follies and rescue us from what nature can throw at us. Singing the Navy hymn still sends a shiver down my spine.
 
Does anyone know if they have managed to lift the fuselage of the chopper up from the depths yet. Last I heard they were waiting for a special lifting boat. Two crew members not yet recovered as far as I am aware.

I'm off to Blacksod Bay tomorrow - will head down to the harbour and see what the word on the ground is. It's understandably been a very hot topic in the area since the accident
 
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Lots of suspicion here about the authorities and their handling of the search. Relative is a lifeboatman who has been out in the aftermath and another relative was on the support team feeding the search teams and relatives in the immediate aftermath. Sadly still no sign of the two missing crew - local fishermen think most likely the currents (which they have intimate knowledge of) will have taken them and snagged them up against submerged rocks, but the search co-ordinators don't want their assistance it seems. As ever the various accounts and opinions about what has been and is happening has suffered from it being passed on first, second and third hand, so hard to gauge what's really the situation.

Search has now reduced in intensity, but there was still a small flotilla around Black Rock today which you may be able to see in the picture attached. There was also a Garda control centre vehicle down by the helipad in Blacksod today.

Just a very sad situation.
 

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ShinyF1 said:
Lots of suspicion here about the authorities and their handling of the search. Relative is a lifeboatman who has been out in the aftermath and another relative was on the support team feeding the search teams and relatives in the immediate aftermath. Sadly still no sign of the two missing crew - local fishermen think most likely the currents (which they have intimate knowledge of) will have taken them and snagged them up against submerged rocks, but the search co-ordinators don't want their assistance it seems. As ever the various accounts and opinions about what has been and is happening has suffered from it being passed on first, second and third hand, so hard to gauge what's really the situation. Search has now reduced in intensity, but there was still a small flotilla around Black Rock today which you may be able to see in the picture attached. There was also a Garda control centre vehicle down by the helipad in Blacksod today. Just a very sad situation.

Have to agree, so tragic. I've been keeping an eye on the Irish media and read the transcript from the black box recorder. The Co-pilots final words were harrowing. "We're gone"
 
So beautiful - but when the weather turns....
 

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