An investigation into the deaths of four Coast Guard crew members killed off the coast of Northern Mayo has found that visibility “dropped rapidly” minutes before the R116 helicopter landed for refueling.
Everyone aboard the Rescue 116 was killed when the plane crashed in Blackrock Island on March 14, 2017.
The bodies of Captain Dara Fitzpatrick and Captain Mark Duffy were found in the days following the incident.
The remains of two others – winch operator Paul Ormsby and winch Ciaran Smith – remain lost at sea.
The investigation was officially opened in April 2018, but was postponed after a brief meeting to allow for separate investigations into the tragedy.
An investigation into the garda ended in April 2019, when the file was sent to the prosecutor’s office. There has been no prosecution of this process.
An employee of the Blackwood lighthouse told the investigation how quickly visibility in the area could fluctuate.
Vincent Sweeney estimated visibility at 400-500 feet at one point on the night in question. But he said that in the minutes before the R116 landed for refueling, visibility “decreased rapidly” to the point that “you will hardly see your hand in front of you.”
Mr Sweeney said “local knowledge is everything” and his experience is that visibility is constantly changing around the north coast of Mayo.
He described a “deadly fog” descending in time before expecting a Dublin-based helicopter at Blackwood.
His son Simon agreed, saying there was a thick fog that made it difficult to drive even at the time.
The procedure began with Superintendent Gary Walsh reading testimony from the captain of the fishing vessel King Cross, William Buchanan.
He described in detail how a crew member aboard the ship had his thumb cut off while hauling nets on the night of March 13, 2017. The ship was 140 nautical miles west of Eagle Island at the time.
The investigation is being conducted in Belmulet
Mr Buchanan’s call to Malin’s Coast Guard triggered a Sligo-based Rescue 118 helicopter to evacuate the wounded crew member, John James Strachan.
For its part, Rescue 116 was tasked with providing top coverage for this mission.
Call the injured crew for help
Malin Head Coast Guard radio officer Ian Scott outlined the chain of events after the initial call from the ship Ringcross.
He explained the decision to request a medical evacuation, telling the investigator that the victim was bleeding, in severe pain and had his thumb amputated.
Mr Scott outlined how he had tried to secure top coverage from Air Corps and that he had also “tried to take Nimrod from the UK”, but this was not available.
The rescue 116 was the task helicopter.
Mr Scott says the doctor he consulted did not object to his decision to bring the injured crew member ashore. He said he used his 42-year judgment to reach a decision: “I think the man needed the ship.”
Mr Scott said he would make the same decision today.
The investigation continues with the evidence of a number of members of the Coast Guard crew, detailing the chronology of events on the night of March 13 and the early hours of March 14, 2017, when R116 crashed and the search began.
AAIU has made 42 safety recommendations
Last November, the Ministry of Transport’s Air Accident Investigation Department (AAIU) completed its investigation into the crash.
Over 350 pages, he describes the chain of events that led to the crash and reveals a number of problems related to the navigation aids used by the crew on the night of the accident.
A total of 42 safety recommendations were made by the AAIU.
Nineteen of them are addressed to the company with the contract for the management of air search and rescue operations (SAR), CHC Ireland.
These include proposals for a review of navigation aids, improved crew training and improved monitoring of missions and decision-making.
The investigation is being conducted before Coroner Dr. Eleanor Fitzgerald.
At the initial hearing four years ago, she accepted testimony from participants in the search, which allowed her to declare both missing men dead.
The evidence presented in the coming days will be considered by an eight-member jury.
Legal representatives of three of the bereaved families are overseeing the proceedings, with other lawyers attending on behalf of the Irish Coast Guard and CHC Ireland, the air search and rescue service company.
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