Three men missing since their search and rescue helicopter crashed off the west coast of Ireland may be strapped in their seats in the wreckage.
The Irish Coastguard, which is co-ordinating the search from Blacksod Lighthouse in County Mayo, said it suspected the crew members could still be on board.
Captain Dara Fitzpatrick, 45, a long-serving search and rescue pilot, was located in the water but pronounced dead in hospital.
Her colleagues remain unaccounted for.
Declan Geoghegan, from the Irish Coastguard, said: "The maritime community in this country is a small, close-knit community.
"Whether it's commercial or whether it's search and rescue, we would all know each other.
"They are friends, they are colleagues.
"There is an emotional aspect to it all.
"It is difficult."
The alarm was raised in the early hours of Tuesday morning when the Rescue flight 116 disappeared from radar while coming in to re-fuel at Blacksod.
Twelve miles offshore, search teams have detected a signal from the helicopter's black box, fuelling hopes that the wreckage and crew will be located soon.
Relatives of captain Mark Duffy, winch operator Paul Ormsby and winchman Ciaran Smith have been privately maintaining a vigil at a house on the coast.
Local garda superintendent Tony Healy said: "We have trained family liaison officers with the family. They're being kept fully up to date with developments.
"They're coping as best as any family could in these circumstances."
Recovery efforts have been hampered by poor weather conditions - a 6ft swell in the sea around Blackrock has been preventing divers from carrying out underwater investigations.
But last night, the Air Accident Investigation Unit confirmed personnel brought to the site by an Air Corp helicopter had found a section of the missing aircraft.
The discovery confirms that the search and rescue helicopter, which did not send a mayday signal before vanishing, encountered difficulties at its last known location.
No comments:
Post a Comment