Wreckage of downed helicopter found

A ROV sent down from the "Granuaile" to film a specific area of seabed on March 23 has confirmed a crashed Coastguard helicpoter was lying about 60 meters off Blackrock island, off the coast of County Mayo. The Sikorsky S92 was believed to have hit the island before crashing into the sea. Captain Dara Fitzpatrick, aged 45, was the only one of the four crew members to have been recovered from the ocean so far. The other crew members, Captain Mark Duffy, Winchman Ciaran Smith and Winch Operator Paul Ormsby, remained missing since. The Dublin-based Rescue 116 helicopter is lying on the seabed, in about 40 meters of water, on the eastern side of the island. The remotely-operated vehicle was not able to confirm if the three missing crew were inside the wreckage. Operations were continuing. The discovery was made after weather conditions eased sufficiently to deploy a submersible robot, attached by cables to the Irish Lights vessel, to film the seabed. The helicopter was lying in an area from where signals from the black box flight recorder were emitting. The "Granuaile" was using Holland I and Holland II ROVs from the Marine Institute and the Irish Naval ship "LÉ Eithne" was coordinating the recovery operation with the support of the Irish Coast Guard, gardai, the RNLI and fishermen with local knowledge of conditions. The forecast was for fair to moderate until the weekend with swells easing. The AAIU believed the tail of Rescue 116 hit rocks on the western end of the island, about 13 km off the Mayo coast as it returned from supporting a rescue mission to refuel at Blacksod. There was no indication of any danger moments before the Sikorsky S92 vanished, with the crew's final transmission: "Shortly landing at Blacksod."