Robot finds copter wreck
Families still waiting on news of crew’s bodies
WRECKAGE of the missing Irish Coast Guard helicopter was found yesterday but it is not yet known if the bodies of three missing men are inside.
An underwater robot called a Remotely Operated Vehicle was deployed and made the “hugely significant” discovery after 9am around 60 metres east of Blackrock Island off the Mayo coast. The late Captain Dara Fitzpatrick, a 45-year-old mother of one, was the only one of the four-strong crew to have been recovered from the ocean, after the Rescue 116 disappeared on March 14, about 13km from the coast. Her colleagues, Captain Mark Duffy, winchman Ciaran Smith and winch operator Paul Ormsby, remain missing. Irish Coast Guard spokesman Declan Geoghegan said he had “no information” on whether the bodies of the crew were in the body of the copter. It is hoped further submersible operations can take place once the initial pictures are analysed and when weather conditions ease again today and Friday. He added: “The Granuaile, the Navy vessel, went to the area and deployed the ROV at around 9am. “We have no information on [bodies]. It’s just that we were able to identify wreckage. So there’s a meeting to plan the second phase of the operation. “I have no information on the wreckage. I haven’t seen any footage of the type or amount of wreckage there. “What they did is they honed in on the hydrophone on the signal from the black box, that was the area the wreckage was going to be in.” The Granuaile is using Holland I and Holland II ROVS from the Marine Institute and the Irish Naval ship LE Eithne is co-ordinating the recovery operation with the support of the Irish Coast Guard, gardai, the RNLI and fishermen with knowledge of local conditions. Asked about the recovery plan now the wreckage has been found, Mr Geoghegan said as the weather moderates they will look at “maybe redeploying the ROV and possibly being able to get a dive team in at some stage.”. However, he added “nothing has been copper-fastened yet”. The Irish Lights Vessel has a heavy-lifting crane as well as dynamic positioning technology, which allows it to remain in the same spot on the surface, much like an aircraft would hover, so divers or remote operated vehicles can be put into the ocean. Mr Geoghegan added: “Weather conditions are moderating all of the time and we’re not dependent on daylight hours for the ROV. “We can establish the operation in darkness. “Obviously we have to do crew changes and there are issues around the information, analysing it and having the meeting to decide what the next part of the plan is.”
We have no information [on bodies]. I have not seen any footage DECLAN GEOGHEGAN BLACKROCK, YESTERDAY