Missing CG Hehicopter.

[Mister E]

I can only say how shocked and sad to read about the missing Irish Coast Guard helicopter of the West Coast of Ireland.
http://www.ybw.com/news-from-yachti...astguard-helicopter-missing-off-ireland-49292
I just hope that they find the missing crew soon.

 

[Sandy]

Sad news indeed. Hope they are found soon.

 

[Seajet]

Aircraft like that usually have a sonar transponder, so with that and air traffic control, location should not be the problem.

Sadly, the weather and exposure conditions will be, for survivors of the initial accident - fingers crossed and best hopes.

 

[William_H]

Aircraft like that usually have a sonar transponder, so with that and air traffic control, location should not be the problem.

Sadly, the weather and exposure conditions will be, for survivors of the initial accident - fingers crossed and best hopes.

To be precise heavy civilian aircraft (with some exceptions) over 5700kg max take off weight are required to carry Flight Data Recorder and Cockpit Voice Recorder so called by media "black boxes". Both of these are required to have a water activated ultrasonic beacon (sonar) to aid in recovery of the recorders and wreckage. They run with good batteries for about 30 days. I don't know if this CG helicopter carried data recorders. A big helo would a small not. olewill

 

[d4dunmor]

Sadly the captain dara Fitzgerald (female) was
picked up but sadly passed away in hospital later from injuries . 3 other crewmen still missing
Very sad day indeed
A special group of people that put their own lives at risk to help and serve others

 

[dunedin]

Yes, shocking news. Out trying to assist others.

 

[prv]

To be precise heavy civilian aircraft (with some exceptions) over 5700kg max take off weight are required to carry Flight Data Recorder and Cockpit Voice Recorder so called by media "black boxes". Both of these are required to have a water activated ultrasonic beacon (sonar) to aid in recovery of the recorders and wreckage. They run with good batteries for about 30 days. I don't know if this CG helicopter carried data recorders. A big helo would a small not. olewill

This was a Sikorsky S92 with a max weight of 12,000kg, and the Irish Coastguard like the UK contracts its helicopter work to a civilian company.

Pete

 

[Mister E]

Sadly the captain dara Fitzgerald (female) was
picked up but sadly passed away in hospital later from injuries . 3 other crewmen still missing
Very sad day indeed
A special group of people that put their own lives at risk to help and serve others

That is such sad news I really do not know what to say to express my condolences to her family. Is there any news of the rest of the crew?

 

[Sandy]

Saddened to hear of the loss of R116 and its crew. Always a black day when the brave people involved in Search and Rescue die on a shout.

 

[Kelpie]

A very sad reminder of the risks that these incredibly brave people take just doing their jobs.
It's a pretty gnarly bit of coast. We were once holed up in Ballyglass for several days and got to know the lifeboat lads, a good bunch whose hospitality left a big impression on us.

 

[Mister E]

Is there any news about the rest of the crew?

 

[Quandary]

Lots of helicopter wreckage, doors etc. brought ashore the day after, and yesterday some talk of a black box signal but looking at Live Ships map, even the Irish Navy ships seem to have left the immediate Blacksod area now. As stated above offshore of the bay it is a very exposed coast.
The pilot had an adopted child, about three years old, her sister said 'the village will rear him now'.

 

[maby]

The assumption seems to be that they are in the sunken wreckage and the weather is too bad to recover it at the moment. The rescue team do not seem to be optimistic about the chances of getting to it before Sunday afternoon.

 

[d4dunmor]

6 metre swell running around the blackrock lighthouse Co. Mayo yesterday
Landed an army helicopter on the blackrock lighthouse AIA found some parts of the S92 on the Blackrock but they seem to think main part of the wreckage is close to this location
Signal from S92 detected but trying to home in on this
Only one crewmember recovered at this stage
Weather here in mayo worse today
Lot of the rescue vessels have had to standoff the search location
Plans to bring in an Irish lights ship equipped with crane when the weather improves
Difficult area to search especially in bad weather
Hopefully a break in the weather will bring success to recover the 3 remaining crew members

 

[d4dunmor]

Air accident investigators found some wreckage which suggests helicopter impacted the black rock
The black rock is approx 10 miles from land is 83 Mt high has a lighthouse a building and a helicopter landing pad
The main wreckage is in the water very close to this lighthouse but is in an area that's covered by surf.
Recovery teams seem to be waiting for a weather window
Hopefully the 3 remaining crew will be recovered soon

 

[maby]

I've seen suggestions on PPRUNE that the pilots did not have access to a chartplotter display - which simply amazes me. It is looking increasingly likely that they simply aimed for the wrong lighthouse and flew into the ground - a basic Raymarine or Garmin chart plotter would have made that error immediately obvious.

 

[Motor_Sailor]

. . . a basic Raymarine or Garmin chart plotter would have made that error immediately obvious.

But when you run the rescue services by employing the cheapest private contractor, firms like CHC probably consider expenditure on things like chart plotters as a waste of money. Where there's rescues, there's profits.

 

[bikedaft]

I've seen suggestions on PPRUNE that the pilots did not have access to a chartplotter display - which simply amazes me. It is looking increasingly likely that they simply aimed for the wrong lighthouse and flew into the ground - a basic Raymarine or Garmin chart plotter would have made that error immediately obvious.

chartplotter in main console on S92 that i've been in (SAR, Prestwick)

edit - it looked like a chartplotter, but may have another name in aviation world

 

[Motor_Sailor]

chartplotter in main console on S92 that i've been in (SAR, Prestwick)

And the helicopter that crashed was one that CHC previously operated in Scotland.

 

[prv]

Are we talking specifically about a marine chartplotter (which I suppose is not that outlandish in a SAR helicopter), or an aviation equivalent which I believe they refer to as a "moving map GPS"?

Pete