AAIU defends decision to publish Rescue 116 pilots’ final words

The Air Accident Investigation Unit (AAIU) has defended its decision to publish a transcript of the Irish Coast Guard’s Rescue 116 helicopter’s final cockpit voice recording before it crashed off north Mayo over a month ago.

The AAIU was responding to criticism of its decision to publish the section of transcript in its preliminary report into the crash which was released late last week.

The International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations (IFALPA) and the European Cockpit Association (ECA) said they strongly condemned the publication as unwarranted, unacceptable and counterproductive to flight safety.

Irish Air Line Pilots’ Association (Ialpa) president Capt Evan Cullen also said there was “absolutely no justification for – or benefit from – publishing specifically the last two minutes of this flight, other than feeding a thirst for sensationalism”.

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“The publication of the information should be on the basis of improving and enhancing flight safety. This investigation has to be based on preventing a future accident,”Capt Cullen said.

‘Best internatinoal practice’

The AAIU said it was satisfied that it had “followed best international practice and national legislation regarding the issuance of the preliminary report”.

“The section of transcript released in the preliminary report was deemed very relevant to the AAIU in giving the families, aviation regulators, operators and the many operational S-92 pilots around the world a better understanding of the sequence of events that occurred on the day of this tragic accident,”it said in a statement.

“The AAIU will continue in its work to bring this particular investigation to its final conclusion. AAIU investigations are held in private and are confidential. No comment is made specific to any investigation other than through a published report,”it said.

The report indicates Capt Fitzpatrick took evasive action, and the aircraft “pitched up rapidly” before impact.

The transcript section included warnings from one of the winch crew 13 seconds before, and the co-pilot Capt Mark Duffy’s words: “We’re gone”.

Capt Cullen said on RTÉ's Morning Ireland on Wednesday that not all of the families of the crew of Rescue 116 agreed with the position taken by the association about the release of the transcript section.

The search is still continuing for winch operator Paul Ormsby (53) and Ciaran Smith (38), who were on board the Sikorsky S-92 helicopter with Capt Dara Fitzpatrick (45) and Capt Mark Duffy (51) when it crashed at Blackrock island, 13 km west of north Mayo, in the early hours of March 14th.

Final report

The AAIU was bound to publish a preliminary report within 30 days, and is now working on its final report. It briefed the families of the four crew before the report was released last Thursday night.

The 38-page preliminary report indicates that a chain of events – some still to be investigated – led to the fatal crash

The AAIU made two preliminary recommendations, based on the fact that the operator route guide for an approach to Blacksod lighthouse lacked vital information on Blackrock island, which was a waypoint in the navigational system.

A separate enhanced ground proximity warning system (EGPWS), which is not to be relied on for navigation, did not have Blackrock programmed into it. The personal locator beacons worn by the crew also appear to have been incorrectly fitted in lifejackets, which may explain why they did not activate.

Ialpa maintains that the complete transcript should not have been released and that only the technical references should have been included.

“We’re not saying it should never be revealed, but only when the report is completed and it backs up the fact,”Capt Cullen said.

He said he had no problem with the complete transcript being shared with the families, investigators and other helicopter crews. But it was not appropriate “to be found on the front page of papers”.

International rules and regulations stated that the AAIU should have released only the parts of the transcript that were technically relevant, he added.

Capt Cullen said that both pilots – Dara Fitzpatrick and Mark Duffy had been members of the IALPA.