OCEAN CHALLENGER

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Tug to assist in recovery of victims of helicopter crash

The "Ocean Challenger" left the port of Castletownbere in the night of March 301, 2017, bound to north Mayo to help with the search for two airmen still missing from the Irish Coast Guard Rescue 116 helicopter. The tug was due off the Mayo coast early in the afternoon of March 31. The absolute priority was to find the two casualties. Agencies involved in the air, sea, sub-sea and shore search, now in its third week, were still hoping that Irish Coast Guard winch operator Paul Ormsby (53) and winchman Ciarán Smith (38) could be located. Senior pilot Capt Dara Fitzpatrick (45) was recovered from the sea and died within hours of the Dublin-based Sikorsky S-92 helicopter crash in the early hours of March 14 off Blackrock Island, 13 km west of north Mayo. The body of her co-pilot Capt Mark Duffy (51) was recovered from the helicopter’s cockpit on March 26 by the Naval Service dive team. Naval Service and Garda divers will work with the tug, which will position itself over the wreck site 40 meters below a narrow and turbulent channel separating Blackrock island and Parrot rock. The tug will undertake a direct lift of a section estimated to weigh five tonnes, rather than using airbag flotation which proved too difficult to work in an area of spring tides, currents and swell. The Marine Institute’s remotely operated vehicle (ROV), deployed from Irish Lights ship "Granuaile", will monitor the lift with a high-definition camera, and it will inspect the site for any signs of the two airmen. The Lost at Sea Tragedies (Last) group, which is chaired by fishing vessel owner Caitlín Uí Aodha, has offered support for the search and recovery effort. Ms Uí Aodha, whose husband Michael died in the Tit Bonhomme sinking in west Cork in 2012, said the fishing industry appreciated the work which the Irish Coast Guard undertook, and also recognised the importance of recovering loved ones. RNLI lifeboat volunteers have also travelled from Donaghadee, Co Down; Valentia, Co Kerry; and Rosslare, Co Wexford to crew the Mayo, Achill, Ballyglass, Sligo and Bundoran lifeboats which were at sea on March 30. The Naval Service patrol ship "LE James Joyce", under the command of Lieut Cdr Neil Manning, has replaced the "LE Samuel Beckett" as on-scene co-ordinator. The lift by the "Ocean Challenger" was expected to take place over the weekend, weather permitting, and the first stage in a two-stage process will involve a sub-sea inspection by rotating or moving the wreck. Only after that will a decision be made to bring the wreckage to the surface.