#Rescue116 - No sign of missing Irish Coast Guard crew members Paul Ormsby and Ciarán Smith has been found after search teams succeeded in lifting the wreck of Rescue 116 off the sea bed yesterday (Sunday 2 April), as TheJournal.ie reports.

The wreckage was prepared for removal for technical examination by the Air Accident Investigation Unit (AAIU), which confirmed on Saturday (1 April) that there were “no mechanical anomalies” identified on first analysis of the Sikorsky S-92’s ‘black box’ recovered over a week ago.

The coastguard helicopter with four crew on board went down off Black Rock, west of the Mullet Penisula in Co Mayo, on 14 March while providing top cover for an offshore medevac.

Capt Dara Fitzpatrick was recovered in the hours after the incident but later died in hospital. The body of her colleague Capt Mark Duffy was recovered from the aircraft’s cockpit almost a fortnight later on 26 March.

#Medevac - The Irish Coast Guard launched to separate medevacs for fishermen who sustained injuries off the Cork and Clare coasts this weekend, as BreakingNews.ie reports.

In Cork yesterday (Sunday 2 April), the Shannon-based coastguard helicopter Rescue 115 airlifted a fisherman with serious hand injuries from a fishing trawler some 20km south of Mizen Head.

The day before (Saturday 1 April), Rescue 115 flew to a trawler off the Clare coast to retrieve a fisherman who a leg injury for treatment at University Hospital Limerick.

BreakingNews.ie has more on the story HERE.

#Coastguard - The funeral of Irish Coast Guard Captain Mark Duffy took place in Blackrock, Co Louth yesterday (Thursday 30 March), as The Irish Times reports.

President Michael D Higgins was among those in attendance to pay respects to the long-serving coastguard pilot, husband and father of two, who died when the Dublin-based Sikorsky S-92 helicopter carrying him and three fellow crew went down off the Mayo coast on 14 March.

Capt Dara Fitzgerald was recovered within hours of the incident but died in hospital shortly after.

Capt Duffy’s remains were recovered earlier this week from the cockpit of Rescue 116, on the sea bed off Black Rock west of the Mullet Peninsula, where divers continue to work amid “hugely challenging” conditions.

Salvage experts who helped recover Rambler 100 off Fastnet in 2011 are now being drafted in to assist in the lifting of the helicopter wreck in the search for missing crew men Paul Ormsby and Ciaran Smith.

The Irish Times has more on the story HERE.

#Rescue116 - Divers are working at the Rescue 116 wreck site to recover the body of one of three crewmen missing since the Irish Coast Guard helicopter went down off the North Mayo coast 11 days ago, as The Irish Times reports.

Reports elsewhere have identified the body but Belmullet Garda Station said it was not possible at this time to confirm whether it was the remains of Mark Duffy, Ciaran Smith or Paul Ormsby.

Their cremate, Capt Dara Fitzpatrick, was buried last week after she died within hours of her recovery from the water following the tragic incident at Black Rock, west of the Mullet Peninsula.

Yesterday evening the coastguard helicopter’s flight recorder, or ‘black box’, was taken from the sea bed and will undergo technical examination in the UK, as previously reported on Afloat.ie.

#Rescue116 - Search teams have successfully recovered Rescue 116’s flight recorder, or ‘black box’, from the sea bed off Black Rock on the North Mayo coast.

The flight recorder is now in the custody of the Air Accident Investigation Unit (AAIU) and will be taken under escort to Baldonnel Aerodrome, where it will be onward transported to the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) in the UK tomorrow (Saturday 25 March) for download.

The operation comes 11 days after the tragic incident that took the life of Capt Dara Fitzpatrick, while her three Irish Coast Guard crewmates — Mark Duffy, Paul Ormsby and Ciarán Smith — remain missing.

#Rescue - The Irish Times reports on the rescue of eight divers off the Sligo coast after a boat capsized this morning (Sunday 19 March).

Sligo Bay RNLI were tasked to the scene off Aughris Pier in Sligo town after the incident during a diving excursion, rescuing seven from a heavy swell.

An eighth person was subsequently recovered from the water and airlifted to Sligo Hospital by the Irish Coast Guard helicopter Rescue 118, which was diverted from the ongoing search for the missing crew of Rescue 116.

Independent.ie reports that the latter diver was in serious condition, and that a second diver was later hospitalised.

#Rescue116 - The Irish Lights vessel Granuaile is in Galway preparing to join the search for the missing crew of Rescue 116, according to Galway Bay FM.

The multifunctional vessel, built to operate in difficult sea conditions, is being stocked with additional equipment ahead of a major search of the crash site off Blacksod in Co Mayo scheduled for tomorrow (Sunday 19 March) with the forecast of improved weather conditions.

TheJournal.ie reports that what’s believed to be wreckage from the Sikorsky S92 helicopter has been found on the island of Black Rock, west of Blacksod, but there are no signs of a crash having occurred at that site.

The coastguard helicopter’s black box was also detected on Wednesday (15 March) near the island, but divers have been prevented from reaching its location due to the poor weather and sea state.

Three crew – chief pilot Mark Duffy and winch men Paul Ormsby and Ciarán Smith — remain missing after the incident in the early hours of Tuesday (14 March) as the Dublin-based Irish Coast Guard helicopter provided top cover for a medevac.

The funeral of Capt Dara Fitzpatrick, who was taken from the scene in the first hours of the search and rescue effort, takes place this morning (Saturday 18 March).

Meanwhile, it emerged on Thursday (16 March) that Rescue 116 was tasked to the scene on Tuesday after the Irish Air Corps was unable to provide assistance due to reduced capacity, according to The Irish Times.

#Rescue116 - One person has been taken from the scene in the search for an Irish Coast Guard helicopter and crew that went missing off Mayo in the early hours of this morning, according to the Galway Advertiser.

Update 2.55pm: The Irish Times confirms that the casualty recovered this morning, named as Captain Dara Fitzpatrick, was pronounced dead in hospital. Capt Fitzpatrick was one of the Irish Coast Guard's most senior helicopter pilots, and in 2013 flew Ireland's first missions with an all-female flight crew.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, a major search operation was launched some six miles west of Blacksod at 1am this morning (Tuesday 14 March) after contact was lost with the Dublin-based Rescue 116 as it provided top cover during a rescue mission.

Coastguard officials conformed that four crew were on board the Sikorsky S92 long-range SAR aircraft at the time.

The individual recovered from the scene within the last 30 minutes is reportedly in critical condition.

#WaterSafety - The Irish Coast Guard has once again warned the public to stay back and say safe in coastal areas during severe weather after video emerged of a young child swept off their feet by a surprise wave.

Independet.ie has video of the recent incident in Portstewart on the North Coast, where a man and the child are filmed walking along the promenade as large waves lap over the edge at high tide.

#Coastguard - Safety inspectors have found no issues with the Irish Coast Guard helicopter fleet after a recent incident abroad involving an aircraft of the same model.

According to The Irish Times, the Irish fleet of Sikorsky S92s was grounded in rotation for tail rotor inspections after an incident with a helicopter on a North Sea rig in late December.