Skellig flight height data wrong for years

IN a shocking development it has emerged that for several years flight computers on Irish Coast Guard rescue helicopters contained grossly inaccurate data about the height of Skellig Michael.

Nine days after the tragic helicopter crash off Mayo last March that claimed the life of the crew of Rescue 116, a review of the guidance and early warning systems used on all Coast Guard rescue helicopters revealed that the data on Skellig Michael was dangerously inaccurate.

While Skellig Michael – one of the most famous islands off Ireland’s coast – is actually 712 feet high, the Coast Guard guidance systems recorded the height of the island as being just 174 feet.

That’s less than a quarter of the island’s true height.

The reason for the enormous discrepancy is that until March 24 the official Aviation Authority aeronautical map used in the Coast Guard collision warning systems register the top of the island’s lighthouse as the UNESCO world Heritage Site’s highest point.

Concerns about serious errors and omissions in the Coast Guard’s enhanced ground proximity warning system had been raised by Irish Coast Guard Pilots as far back as 2013.

Given that in winter the Skelligs are often blanketed by thick fog and mist – which can makes them very hard to see from even a short distance away – the data error could have had catastrophic consequences had it not been spotted.

Last month – three months after the Rescue 116 tragedy – a new revised aeronautical map was issued which includes the Skelligs’ true height.

Skellig Michael