2017 Irish Coast Guard Rescue 116 crash

2017 Irish Coast Guard S-92 crash

EI-ICR, the aircraft involved in the accident
Accident
Date	14 March 2017
Summary	Missing
Site	Atlantic Ocean 10km west off Blacksod Bay, County Mayo, Republic of Ireland
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Sikorsky S-92A
Operator	CHC Helicopter for Irish Coast Guard
Registration	EI-ICR
Crew	4
Fatalities	1
Missing	3

On 14 March 2017, at 12:45 am local time, an Irish Coast Guard Sikorsky S-92A (callsign Rescue 116 based at Dublin) crashed into the Atlantic Ocean while providing top cover for the Sligo-based search and rescue helicopter, Rescue 118, during a rescue mission off the west coast of Mayo, Ireland. One of the crew members, Captain Dara Fitzpatrick, was found and later pronounced dead in hospital and three other members of the crew; Captain Mark Duffy, Winch Operator Paul Ormsby and Winchman Ciarán Smith are still missing. The search and rescue operation is still ongoing.

The Irish Coast Guard last had communication from Rescue 116 at 12:45 am local time as it was making its approach to Blacksod Bay to 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, prompting a mayday. Rescue 118 completed the medical evacuation of an injured fisherman 250 kilometres (160 mi) west of Blacksod, for which both helicopters had been originally tasked.

Two IRCG helicopters were deployed to the search area, along with a CASA CN-235 maritime patrol aircraft from the Irish Air Corps. The Irish Naval Service offshore patrol vessel LÉ Róisín (P51) arrived in the search zone at 9:00 am on Tuesday morning. RNLI vessels and divers from the Naval Service Diving Section and Garda Water Unit were also sent to the scene. Investigators from the Air Accident Investigation Unit attended the scene Tuesday morning. The Naval Service flagship LÉ Eithne (P31) joined the search effort on Tuesday afternoon, and both Naval Service vessels continued the search throughout Tuesday night and into Wednesday. The Eithne was made on-scene coordinator of the recovery mission. The Marine Institute's Celtic Voyager was dispatched on Tuesday night to search using multibeam echosounders for the wreckage. On Wednesday afternoon, a signal transmitting from the helicopter's flight recorder had been received. The signal emanated at around 50 metres (160 ft) southwest of the Blackrock lighthouse.

On Thursday, 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, which is 19 km west of the shore at Blacksod Bay.

Lack of Air Corps resources

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 Monday 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 suffering from a suspected heart attack. Under the Air Corps role and responsilities stated 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. The Air Corps denied the request because of a staff shortage in experienced and trained personnel, which made it unable to operate an "out-of-hours" roster. This meant Rescue 116 had to be deployed instead to provided top cover, not ideal for an aircraft primarily designed and built for active rescues involving a winch, whereas Air Corps fixed wing aircraft can stay airborne for up to 9 hours to circle and surveil rescue missions. 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.

The Defence Forces said that in 2017 three requests for top cover had to be refused due to reduced availability.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny, who is 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. Military sources informed the media that in the previous year they would have "just about" enough personnel to cope with a request of this nature and that personnel shortages had since become "acute".