Safety gear saved fishermen, says pilot

THE pilot of the helicopter which winched two fishermen to safety seconds before their trawler sank said their quick-thinking and safety equipment saved their lives.

Irish Coast Guard Captain Dara Fitzpatrick, the coast guard’s only female pilot, commanded the rescue mission that plucked John Downes, 51, and Ken Doyle, 55, from rough seas about 10 miles east of the Tuskar Rock off the Waterford coast on Tuesday night. It was the third trawler to sink of the south east coast in a week.

Capt Fitzpatrick, 35, said the decision by skipper of the Renegade, Mr Downes, to take a life-raft, with a radio and wearing proper safety equipment, saved their lives.

“We winched them on board and within 20 seconds, the Renegade was gone,” she said.

She and her Rescue 117 crew of co-pilot Mark McDermott, winchman Keith Devaney and winch operator Neall McAdam were on call at the coast guard base at Waterford Airport on Tuesday night.

They were scrambled at 5.10pm following a call from the Marine Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Dublin that the Renegade, which had been involved in the search for the Honeydew II and the Peres Charles but which was en-route to Howth for repairs, was taking on water. The Sikorsky 61 aircraft was airborne and rushing to the scene within 12 minutes.

“There was low cloud, with south-westerly wind at about 15-20 knots,” Capt Fitzpatrick said. But Mr McAdam spotted the fishermen in the life-raft using forward looking infra-red cameras when they were about seven miles away. He also spotted the light on the life-raft and strobe lights on the mens’ jackets.

Capt Fitzpatrick arrived over the stricken fishermen 20 minutes after take-off and positioned her aircraft in a hover just 40 foot above the raft. The Renegade was less than 300 yards away and was listing. Mr McAdam lowered Mr Devaney down to the raft, which was rising in a swell of about three to four metres.

“They were glad to see us,” Mr Devaney said.

He instructed Mr Downes to move to the back of the raft while he strapped Mr Doyle into a harness. Mr Doyle was then winched aboard the helicopter. The winch was lowered again and this time, Mr Devaney and Mr Downes were winched aboard. Within 20 seconds, the Renegade was gone.

Both men were delighted to be safe. They spoke for a short while but Mr Downes soon went into shock.

The coast guard crew began monitoring the mens’ vital signs during the flight back to Waterford Airport, but both were uninjured.

Neither man was willing to talk yesterday while searches continued for the victims of the other trawler tragedies. The helicopter crew finished their 24-hour shift at 1pm yesterday.