Tag Archives: Irish Coast Guard helicopter

From injury to impact: a timeline of the eight critical moments that led up to R116 crash

Shortly after 9.15pm on March 13, 2017, the F/V King’s Cross trawler was on the northern edge of Porcupine Bank when Captain William Buchan told his crew to haul in the net. It was a perfectly normal request of his crew. However, it set off a chain of events so tragic and inconceivable that it still haunts all those involved in the R116 tragedy more than five years later. Fisherman James John Strachan was assigned to one side of the vessel. While attempting to clear a section of netting that had become trapped, his right hand became entangled. Capt Buchan contacted Ian Scott, the Coast Guard radio operator at Malin Head Marine Rescue Sub Centre (MRSC). Mr Scott listened with concern as Capt Buchan detailed his crewman’s condition. Immediately after establishing the vessel’s position, Mr Scott said, “It is within range of our helicopter, and he will come and get your man off the boat.”  >click to read< 15:39

Sister of tragic R116 captain Dara Fitzpatrick’s incredible gesture after ‘tough week’ as inquest ends – THE sister of tragic Rescue 116 captain Dara Fitzpatrick has told how she would love to “host a documentary on loss and grief”. Dr Niamh Fitzpatrick said a number of people have contacted her to thank her for talking about loss after the inquest into the horror Rescue 116 crash finished this week. >click to read< 17:53

Rescue 116: ‘Anger doesn’t get you anywhere’ Father of pilot Dara Fitzpatrick shares frustration

The father of tragic pilot Dara Fitzpatrick has shared his frustration following the final report on the fatal Rescue 116 crash. The report outlined the series of failures which caused an Irish Coast Guard helicopter to smash into a Co Mayo island before plunging into the sea in March 2017. Captain Dara Fitpzatrick and three other crew members, Captain Mark Duffy, operator Paul Ormsby and winchman Ciarán Smith died in the early hours of 14 March 2017 when on a rescue mission. Captain Fitzpatrick and Captain Duffy’s bodies were recovered but Ormsby and Smith remain lost at sea. >click to read<  – Rescue 116: From responding to a call about a minor fishing accident to utter devastation>click to read<  09:01

The Irish Coast Guard helicopter forced to abandon a maritime rescue mission is back in operation

The Sikorsky S-92 aircraft was evacuating an injured fisherman from a trawler off the coast of Kerry when a warning light appeared in the cockpit. It was forced to reroute immediately to the closest landing spot, at Valentia coast guard station, leaving its winchman and the fisherman aboard the boat. They were later picked up by another coastguard helicopter from Waterford. The incident started early on Sunday morning when the coastguard was responding to a distress call,,, >click to read< 11:55

Ireland has a helicopter problem. Coast Guard leaves winch operator with injured fisherman at sea

An Irish Coast Guard helicopter was forced to leave a crew member and an injured fisherman on a trawler off the coast of Kerry on Sunday after encountering mechanical trouble. The Air Corps put its aircraft on standby amid fears Rescue 115, a Sikorsky S92 helicopter, would have to ditch in the sea on its way back to base. The S92 was the same helicopter model involved in the Rescue 116 disaster in 2017, which resulted in the deaths of the four crew members aboard. >click to read< 08:38

Fisherman suffering a heart attack refused to be airlifted from trawler twice! They got him.

An Irish Coast Guard helicopter was sent to meet a fishing trawler three times before they could eventually airlift a seriously ill crew member to hospital. The fisherman suffered a heart attack on board a French fishing vessel off the Clare coast but refused twice to be airlifted to hospital. The drama began at around 4.30pm yesterday when the Irish Coast Guard was requested to assist the captain of a 98-foot French fishing vessel who had reported that a crew member had suffered a heart attack. >click to read<16:10