Thursday, March 23, 2017

THE WHOLE country was shocked by the incident that unfolded in the West of Ireland last week that saw four members of the emergency services lose their lives while assisting in a rescue mission off the coast.

The Rescue 116 helicopter, Captained by Dara Fitzpatrick, disappeared suddenly from radar while on route to a scheduled refuelling stop at Blacksod as it went to assist its colleagues on Rescue 115.

Unfortunately, as the Echo went to press no reason for the helicopter crashing into the sea had been ascertained and the bodies of three crew members, Mark Duffy, Paul Ormsby and Ciaran Smith, remained missing.

Capt. Fitzpatrick’s body was recovered from the water shortly after the accident and her funeral mass took place on Saturday.

While in recent years she was stationed in Dublin, Capt. Fitzpatrick was once the Captain of the Rescue 117 helicopter based in Waterford Airport and was involved in some of the biggest search and rescue missions ever undertaken off the Wexford coastline.

In 2007, she was involved in the search for those missing when seven fishermen went missing after the Pere Charles and Honeydew II  sank within days of each other off the south east coast.

However, Capt. Fitzpatrick and her crew came to the rescue of Ken Doyle and Kevin Downes after their boat, the Renegade, went down 25km off Carnsore Point while they were searching for those missing from the other two tragedies.

Capt. Fitzpatrick was just 45 years of age and was the most experienced of all flight personal involved in the CoastGuard.

Tributes to her were led by President Michael D. Higgins who expressed the nations gratitude for the ‘courage, resolution and exemplary commitment to the aims of the CoastGuard that Capt. Fitzpatrick and her colleagues consistently displayed.”

Condolences were also offered by the Taoiseach and the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces, Vice-Admiral, Mark Mellett.

Gareth Morrison, the RNLI Lifesaving Manager for Ireland, gave the following statement to the Echo outlining the impact the tragedy has had on everyone involved with the rescue services: ‘In what will be remembered as a dark day in the Irish Search and Rescue community the thoughts of everyone in the RNLI remain with our colleagues in the Irish Coast Guard and in particular with the colleagues, family and friends of the crew of Rescue 116.

During the ongoing search for the crew the RNLI’s two all-weather lifeboats at Achill and Ballyglass have been out around the clock with volunteers taking turns to crew the lifeboat and seeking to bring all loved ones home.

We again find ourselves dealing with a loss in our community and we once again stand shoulder to shoulder with our colleagues in the Irish Coast Guard.

Flags at RNLI lifeboat stations are being flown at half-mast and books of condolences have been opened.

RNLI lifeboats work hand in hand with Irish Coast Guard helicopters and Rescue 116 would have been a familiar sight to our lifeboat stations on the South-East coast. Their presence provided an additional asset to work alongside our volunteers, offering much needed cover and support in the most challenging of callouts. The crews trained alongside each other year-round and shared valuable knowledge and experience, which undoubtedly saved many lives.

Every search and rescue volunteers shares a bond and the loss of one is shared by many.  We will never forget this awful tragedy and we continue to be grateful for the courageous men and woman who go out to help others in danger.’

Capt. Fitzpatrick was a central figure in the 2010 documentary film, ‘Rescue 117’, which documented the work of the CoastGuard and the SAR rescue team in Waterford.

Mark McGibney, from the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, said Capt. Fitzpatrick was devoted to her helicopter and her team.

Speaking about her work once she herself said: “It can have its tough times and it’s stressful but we love it. We love rescuing people. We’re all very dedicated to it and there’s no way in the world we’d do anything else.”