Coast Guard make significant progress off Mayo coast – Newstalk 106-108 fm

The Coast Guard search off Mayo has made significant progress today.

The search crew hunting for the wreckage of missing Coast Guard helicopter Rescue 116 are beginning a meeting around now to discuss the next stage of the operation.

The Irish Lights ship, the Granuaile arrived off Blacksod Bay this morning, fitted with new hi-tech equipment, which has helped the team scan the ocean bed around the suspected crash site.

Heavy swells in recent days had prevented boats from getting near the site where a signal from the black box was detected.

The Coast Guard's Declan Geoghegan has said that the weather finally gave them a break today.

Captain Dara Fitzpatrick was laid to rest yesterday while her colleagues Mark Duffy, Paul Ormsby and Ciarn Smith all remain missing.

MrGeoghegan said there was a massive amount of organisation behind today's operation.

He said "It's a combination of three agencies, the Irish Lights, the Navy Marine Institute and the Coast Guard working together in terms sharing equipment.

"So there will be sonar equipment and the diving equipment and the back-up in terms of a recompression chamber and generators."

"They're submersibles, thay can go underwater, there is a camera feed to the surface and they can light up an area."

He finished by saying "They can also do certain mechanical operations like attaching cables for lifting equipment and they use a picture of what's beneath the surface."

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Coast Guard make significant progress off Mayo coast - Newstalk 106-108 fm