Rescue helicopter crashes in atlantic during Rescue mission..All four crews killed
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ก.ย. 2024
- In the early hours of 14 March 2017, a Sikorsky S-92 helicopter operated by CHC Helicopter under contract to the Irish Coast Guard (call sign Rescue 116) crashed into the sea while supporting a rescue operation off County Mayo, on Ireland's west coast. All four crew members on board, Captain Dara Fitzpatrick, Chief Pilot Mark Duffy, winch operator Paul Ormsby, and winch man Ciarán Smith were killed.
The Air Accident Investigation Unit released its final report on 5 November 2021. It concluded that the probable cause was that while the helicopter was flying towards its intended landing spot at 200 ft, at night, in poor weather, the crew was unaware of the presence of a 282-foot obstacle in their flight path.
Learn more about the crash
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1. **Accident Reported:** On the evening of 13 March 2017, the Malin Head Coastguard received a call about a fishing boat crew member who had lost part of his thumb in an accident, 250 km off the west coast.
2. **Decision to Evacuate:** The decision was made to evacuate the injured fisherman to a hospital.
3. **Helicopter Dispatch:** Two helicopters were dispatched:
- **Rescue 118:** To winch the injured fisherman and transport him to land.
- **Rescue 116:** To provide "top cover" support (relay communications between the rescue aircraft and the shore).
4. **Rescue 118 Flight:** Rescue 118 took off from Sligo around 10:30 PM, refueled at Blacksod Lighthouse, and proceeded to meet the fishing boat.
5. **Rescue 116 Flight:** Rescue 116 took off from Dublin just before 11 PM, and headed to Blacksod to refuel, a journey of 1¾ hours.
6. **Approach and Collision:** At 12:46 AM, while approaching Blacksod over the sea at 200 feet, Rescue 116 failed to see Blackrock Island (9.5 nautical miles west of Blacksod) until it was too late. Despite a last-moment evasive maneuver, the helicopter struck the western slope of the island.
7. **Crash:** The collision damaged Rescue 116's tail structure, making it uncontrollable, and it tumbled into the sea off the eastern side of Blackrock Island.
8. **Emergency Declared:** The lighthouse crew raised the alarm when Rescue 116 failed to arrive as expected, prompting the Marine Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in Dublin to declare an emergency.
9. **Search and Recovery:** After finishing the rescue of the injured fisherman, Rescue 118 flew to Blacksod and located the body of Rescue 116's captain in the water. The body was retrieved by the RNLI Achill lifeboat.
10. **Additional Search Efforts:** Rescue 115, based in Shannon, and a CASA CN-235 maritime patrol aircraft from the Irish Air Corps were dispatched to aid in the search for the other three crew members.
11. **Captain's Funeral:** On 18 March, the funeral for Captain Dara Fitzpatrick was held in Glencullen, County Dublin.
To all our rescue services. You do a magnificent job in sometimes challenging conditions. RIP to the crew of rescue 116.
Condolences to the families who raised outstanding citizens. Their dedication will never be forgotten..
Rip guys we love you and thank you for your service
Missing Paul Ormsby for his humour and kindness toward the human race and his kindness to his co workers .❤🇦🇺💐at the R116 Base .
RIP
These crews are saints for what they do 🙏
A dam Shame of these brave people RIP
I bought a house in westbourne clondalkin i wasnt long there when a crew on rescue helicopter crashed in fog on a beach in Wexford i think. One of the guys killed in thst crash had just bought a house opposite me in castlegrange clondalkin, and i moved to work in mayo many years later and this crash happened . Its some job these guys do ,its so dangerous but they dont acknowledge the danger they just get to it . I salute them.
The Crew that crashed were an Irish Air Corp crew who were acting as a search and rescue unit from Waterford Airport, they crashed on the first night that they were operational for night flight into the sand dunes at the end of Tramore beach in Waterford,it was a foggy night and they from my understanding couldn't find the way back to Waterford Airport or were just slightly low and hit the top of the sand dune which happened to be in it's path, people in the area report hearing the helicopter circling the area around the airport on that faithful night,four brave souls who took on the mission even do I understand they had the option not to fly,I think this ended the Air Corps involvement in search and rescue, I would hate to think that this unit was being run on a shoe string like the rest of the Defense forces at the time,God rest these brave souls, there is a monument at the sea front in Tramore in their memory 🌹
Paul on R116 was my best buddy friend and he told me about the beach crash and his best friend and co worker was the one found on the beach who burnt to death. Paul who died in R116 sat with his buddy that died until another helicopter came to assist.😢❤
There is no greater love than this: that a person would lay down his life for the sake of his friends. Unfortunate adverse outcome all four dearly missed.
I was a chief for a county based EMS and a director for a county/hospital based EMS for over 30 years. In the very early years of EMS we utilized TIKI-MAST military assistance out of Fort Campbell for air responses. Later, came the civilian operated services. In the early years there were a number of accidents related to air services. Air service safety and operational protocols have continued to improved throughout the years. On reviewing ground service responsibilities on improving scene safety for air crews. I implemented protocols for requesting air services to a scene. Part of the protocols stated no request for air services basically for isolated hand et below wrist injuries If/when advanced life support crews are on scene and transport could be completed within a reasonable time. The air service crews appreciated the ground service crews for keeping their life safety a priority.
Paul on R116 was my best buddy friend and he told me about the Wexford crash and his best friend and co worker was the one found on the beach who burnt to death. Paul who died in R116 sat with his buddy that died until another helicopter came to assist.😢❤
My sincere condolences
May his soul rest in peace
RIP, they are professional and dedicated to the job
Terrible tragedy, RIP.
I remember both listening to Rescue 116 and tracking it on my SBS-1 box on that fateful evening. I remember thinking that the discrepancy between his announced altitude on RT with Shannon (3,000 feet) was at odds with what I saw on my tracker which was showing him a bit lower, I can't remember exactly but as he was fairly low and some distance from me I thought nothing of it as sometimes if I lost tracking due to the aircraft being out of range I would see its last position and height on screen for some minutes before it disappeared from the screen.
RIP R116
People saying that 4 people lost their lives for a "stupid thumb" are missing the point. Every mission is practice for real world situations. This accident could have just as easily happened during a routine training. The more they practice the better they get.
It's just the, four people dying bit that makes the thumb seem very expensive. Is the thumb amputee still alive today I wonder?
@@edwardmclaughlin7935 In hindsight it's easy to place blame (or scapegoat people) that's why even in the legal system "Monday morning quarterbacking" is not allowed.
@@Anythingforfreedom
Don't even know what a quarterback is. But I know that a thumb was no reason to call out so many people.
@@edwardmclaughlin7935 Every mission is practice. They aren't helping anyone by sending as few resources as absolutely necessary. If they crashed on an easy mission they definitely would have crashed on a more serious mission, but now they'll learn from their mistakes. The thumb didn't have anything to do with it. First responders die in training very often.
Rescue 118 was the primary rescue helicopter (didn’t crash) rescue 116 was the cover helicopter (it did crash) and during S&R ops the cover helicopter is used to relay communications between the rescue helicopter and the ground coordination center.
I personally think it’s less about using instances as training (because it was functional in nature; the experience is a byproduct). I think the main problem is *using contracted, subsidized rescue services* and because CHC Helicopters is based in Texas but does contract work worldwide I have to wonder if the crew of R116 was brought in from other parts of Ireland; and if their unfamiliarity with the topography was due to their lack of experience in the area would a crew with a local home aerodrome have been more familiar.
RIP Sad news
Terrifying incident. Those poor people… hitting a pillar of jagged sea rock to tumble into dark winter sea below. Just awful.
Sad and unnecessary loss of life. Very little reason to be flying 200 ft at night in poor weather, especially for a non life-threatening situation, even with modern GPS-based avionics. Having said that, modern avionics should simplify the avoidance of such objects. Hopefully lessons learned. RIP.
Think that's the real reason. It wasn't modern. Island was shown on the map system. Another government fuck up with no consequences...
Arrogance from an over confident pilot
You have no idea what you are talking about. Shut ya gob and educate yourself before you smear the woman who left behind a young son she had just adopted! A well trained and sensible pilot with lots of experience who I can tell you, was well respected by that crew!
I think you'll find it wasn't an "arrogant" pilot & actually the fault of CHC for not spending the money & kitting the helicopters out with the correct software showing all islands off the coast of Ireland. You should also realise that the helicopter lost that day wasn't involved in the rescue but only providing top cover, enabling their colleagues to be able to communicate back to land as that particular rescue was at the max of its range, at which communication is impossible.
Seems like a tragic waste of 4 lives for a thumb injury.
It was serious enough to scramble a helicopter
@@ronantorywas it though.
@@David-cm4okany injury out at sea is a serious injury any seafarer or anyone with basic knowlege of anything would understand. What is the coast guards job then? Because it aint sitting on their holes. The severed thumb is problably more work than half the stuff they do in the NW
Can you please make the text bigger , even with reading glasses on it’s tiny . Otherwise a great channel 😊
Point well noted,
Thanks!
Turn captions on
I may have this wrong, I've no idea what the SOPs dictate on that operation, but the CVR might indicate that the island was spotted by a non-flying crew member, stated as 'Straight Ahead'.. queried by the flying pilot and discussed as needing a 20 deg right turn, the non-handling pilot was instructed to enter 20deg right.. this not being sufficient or otherwise not acted upon in sufficient time, collision with the lighthouse/island was inevitable.. This would indicate that the Helo was being operated through the autopilot.. Surely, close proximity to a serious threat should have warranted a quick disconnect of the A/P and a hard-over move to avoid any terrain. As I said, I may be misinterpreting the audio.
This island wasn't in the GPS database , its a disgrace that CHC hadn't verified this , dark misty night flying on autopilot and trusting the system, rear crew looking through forward looking camera .... saw it too late
Yes correct, rear winch man spotted it as he was equipped with night vision or equipment of that standard.
Second part of that is incorrect - the direction was given directly to the captain who didn’t act accordingly and take immediate evasive action.
It’s likely that she would have looked directly at her mav and referred to her onboard map which was incorrect. It is likely that she saw and knew of the obstacle approaching but her height was above the minimum of the obstacle.
The information unfortunately on her secondary system or map was incorrect and she believed that they were over a hundred clear of the obstacle. This, however was not the case as all three topographical maps showed different peak heights. This was unbeknownst to both of the flying crew and only became aware of the height discrepancies when the audible altitude proximity warning system went off. Again, both pilots were effectively flying blind and by instrument where as the rear winch man was equipped with the gear to see the fast approaching obstacle. From my understanding the helicopter actually pitched nose up and slightly port as opposed to the call of starboard or right. The rear of the helicopter and tail section hit first rendering rhe aircraft in fly able.
Dara, the flying pilot suffered some injuries but was able to free herself. This however is unconfirmed and probably never will be. She was found some hours later face down.
Paul the wichman, a good friend of my sister's, saw it all too late, but did see it on his screen instructing Dara as you've said. I believe the co pilot was heard saying something like, "We're dead, or fkcued!" I know they were in unfamiliar airspace, this was not their normal run but had stepped in to assist R118 for radio cover.
If I remember correctly the enquiry found that the maps were not up to date as they were too costly apparently. And this is why auto pilot didn't warn them and they saw it late due to conditions. How much was that mistake after losing 4 crew people and a helicopter 😢
RIP
RIP
Sad.
Who doesn't like staring at a static map for 10 minutes?
Why flying at 200 feet when 9 miles out?
Bad weather
Night
It’s not on any maps, or GPS? Seems like some map (or someone on the ground) should have told them there was a 300’ obstacle in their route, if they were going to fly around so frickin low.
Watch the video again man ,tf, they knew it, they were looking for it@@RetreadPhoto
On NVGs if it was dark.
No moving maps, hud, terrain system? WTH
TY UK Emergency Services May Continue To RIP'Their Families Continue To Heal We Love You All😊
The air corps was not available. Imagine my surprise.
So sad 116
Hard to watch. I knew the rear crew having served with them.
Go Mairdis Beo.
I’m from the West coast but now I am living overseas. These crews are so dedicated and brave. I know about this tragedy and it is heartbreaking. The West coast is so wild and can be treacherous on a good day. Weather changes on a dime. God bless this crews families and may they Rest in Peace in Eternity.🙏🙏🙏🙏
@@ruthbickerstaffe1915 I’m living overseas myself now but I’ll never forget the weather i experienced flying off the west coast. I was fixed wing providing top cover for the helicopters when needed (and when possible) but those helicopter crews were in the thick of it putting their own lives at risk so others may live.
@@Machlooper Thank you so very much for your reply. That was such a tragic accident. I always find myself thinking of the Crew that lost their lives, the impact on their families, heartbreaking. You must be quite "fearless" yourself to have flown the Fixed Wing Planes which give support to the helicopters. The West of Ireland is like no other place on earth, in my opinion. Yes, its also so very beautiful but the Atlantic Ocean is a force that people who have not grown up there, do not fully understand. These helicopter crews seem to know no fear, always thinking of others. I am worried about the new change that I have read is coming with the Provider of this Service. I understand they will be flying different helicopters and I do hope that they keep the same Crews who know the West inside out and upside down. I do hope that you are still flying. I am in Ontario, Canada now for quite some time, but Ireland will always be "home". I hope that you have a very good weekend and summer.
With all that room around the island...one can only call it fate. RIP
RIP
I wouldn't call it fate at all. The island was their destination and they had already circled it once. Visibility was over 1 mile. The lighthouse was functional, but they were too low to see the beam. Regardless, you don't fly at 200 feet, in the dark, towards an island that is almost 300 feet tall. Anyway, there were 42 recommendations as a result of this crash, so that should tell you something.
There was a mistake with the map. It didn’t show the little island.
That's very hard to believe .
An aviation map? Or just something someone picked up at a convenience store? Or an Encyclopedia Britannica?
@RetreadPhoto .. can't see them using a convenience store map . Maybe using a very detailed GPS tracking system. But man being human does make mistakes ... Just a thought.
The ICAO Aeronautical chart (paper version) shows Black Rock as a dot with a lighthouse symbol and details of the light sequence. It could just be small rock with a light on it but it is 232 ft high and the top of the light is at 282 ft above MSL. Their digital navigation system presumably had the same chart details stored in it. If the descending flight path took them over this point at an altitude of less than 230 ft as if it was a small rock at sea level, then that would explain what happened.
@@markdudley3831 I'm looking at my copy of ICAO Aeronautical Chart "Ireland North" 1:500,000 and it does not show the height of the island.
Expensive thumb right there
If they were issued with up to date maps and data the (accident)would have been prevented,,
I heard that also. But, would Black Sod have been on any map they had, being an island and all? Or was it too small to be on a map? Seems odd that a 200 hundred foot tall island was not on a map. They had clear warning from rear crew who could see the imminent threat dead ahead.
All of that for a thumb
Ridiculous.
Very erie, I'm on a mooring at blacksod pier now, came across this by accident
Never forget that our ‘Military’ Aer Corps were very likely knocking back pints in Baldonnel at this stage of the evening, hence they were ‘unable’ (unwilling) to provide ‘Top Cover’ for this operation.
Hence 116 were assigned that duty.
RIP.
You are correct that normally they would provide top cover. I heard they had mechanical problems, and therefore, called in 116 for the job. So 116 was now in unfamilliar airspace.
Dara Fitzpatrick (15 October 1971 - 14 March 2017) was the Irish Coast Guard's most senior helicopter search and rescue pilot.but it was human error that led to the crash and it didn't take or need 2 helicopters to take one man and his thumb to hospital,and its why they were being questioned on why they were heading to the ship at sea.
You beed to read the report before you sprout B.S. R116 was called in to give radio cover and it was far from the pilots fault!
@@aflaz171 sure. the woman driver could not see the Island in front of her while the crewman behind her could and she was on a joyride to a ship where one man had a sore thumb, radio cover my ass, in the end the radio cover wasn't needed, Facts, I don't need to read a report covering up incident, I spoke with the crew from the other Chopper.
It was much more than human error , it was also multiple systems failure. And multiple unfortunate build up of events that all conspired to doom the mission. It would be easy to blame the captain, but the truth is she followed all the guidelines and regulations to a tee and it let her down , however sometimes you need to use common sense , to override rules and regulations, and use basic gut instinct to survive .
So just why did rescue 116 "fail to see Blackrock Island ".... wasn't it because the mapping software was out of date and they did not get money for an upgrade ??? I don't see many asking that question. Typical Irish attitude... late and reactionary with no consequences. Did anyone lose their job ? No.
Four dead for an injured thumb. CHC must have been desperate for the business
Irrelevant. On those SAR contracts, CHC doesn’t decide which patients they carry. The crew makes the call on mission safety regardless of whom they’re assisting.
@@FlightData101 It's not mission safety, it's mission choice. 4 crew and a helicopter--that's $4500 an hour, more. As a physician whose seen a lot mangled fingers, the thumb is going to live or die, the chopper ride won't change the outcome.
@@kdub6593 True, this hole thing is a sh1t show lol
Very ignorant thing to say. If you had a small kitchen fire at home and someone called the fire department, you would still expect them to show up, it's their job!
@@davemanone3661 Not flying low over the ocean in a $10.000.000 helicopter, during the bad weather, at the cost of $5.000+ hour, fk his thumb.
I thought ICAO nations used English as the aviation language
Juvenile
@@FlightData101No. He has a point, the comms were shabby and unclear. The German Lufthansa pilot was by far the most professional and clearly speaking out of all those radio operators.
Sadly, that bad comms might have contributed to the accident. Instead of minding the flight path and altitude they probably were too focused on deciphering the comms.
I cannot find a better explanation for this accident than distraction by the radio comms.
My takeaways would be: better radio culture and better radio sets on rescue helicopters.
It should be: "LOUD and CLEAR"
😢😢😢
It was perfectly clear to me.
They are Irish and its perfectly clear and I'm not even Irish. Stupid comment.
Allegedly we can send people to the moon, but not sort out earth's radio comms.
people never went to the moon.
Yeah, good point!