Helmet and lifejacket found washed up belonged to Rescue 116 winchman Ciarán Smith

Rescue 116 went down in March with four crew onboard while preparing to refuel at Blacksod, Co Mayo.

By Cormac Fitzgerald Tuesday 3 Oct 2017, 8:01 AM

Oct 3rd 2017, 8:01 AM 17,600 Views 8 Comments

http://jrnl.ie/3626995

GARDAÍ HAVE CONFIRMED that equipment found washed up on the Mayo coast belonged to a missing Rescue 116 crewmember.

A helmet and lifejacket found on shore at Elly, located near Clogher has been confirmed to have belonged to missing winchman Ciarán Smith.

The items were located at around 8.20am Saturday.

Rescue 116 went down in March with four crew onboard while preparing to refuel at Blacksod, Co Mayo.

Captain Dara Fitzpatrick was recovered at sea soon after the helicopter went down, but died later in hospital. The body of pilot Mark Duffy was found in the wreckage of the helicopter some weeks later.

The bodies of winch operator Paul Ormsby (53) and winchman Ciarán Smith (38) have yet to be recovered. There have been a number of searches for the missing crewmembers since then, including several this July.

Gardaí said that investigations were ongoing.

Read: Helmet and lifejacket found on Mayo shore

Read: Searches resume for missing Rescue 116 crew members

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Cormac Fitzgerald

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Helmet and lifejacket found washed up belonged to Rescue 116 winchman Ciarán Smith

Rescue 116 went down in March with four crew onboard while preparing to refuel at Blacksod, Co Mayo.

Read: Helmet and lifejacket found on Mayo shore