19:35

Rescue chief admits 'level of hope' is fading of finding any survivors

Rescue chief Gerard O’Flynn says the “level of hope” is fading of finding any survivors as the search was scaled back tonight and large pieces of debris were brought ashore.

A sizeable piece of the Rescue 116 helicopter with ‘Coast Guard’ written on it was hoisted from the water shortly after 6pm just hours after a fuel tank and other pieces of the craft were found.

The debris was scattered over an area of approximately two-to-three square miles.

Gerard O’Flynn, the Search and Rescue Operations Manager with the Irish Coast Guard at Blacksod Pier, told Irish Mirror reporter Trevor Quinn: “Unfortunately with the passage of time the level of hope does go down but you never know.

”Pilots are exceptionally well trained people, they’re exceptionally physically fit. So I think you just hang on to any bit of hope but you have to be I suppose a little bit fearful that with the passage of time the chances of people surviving is reducing.”

Mr O’Flynn declined to reveal any further information about the three missing coast guard members.

He said: “It’s important to think of their families first and the families are just being informed and coming to grips with it. It’s a very, very difficult time for them.”

Meanwhile, he said the search is being scaled down because of reduced visibility but it will continue overnight.

Mr O’Flynn added: “We’re fortunate to have very good support from the likes of the Navy and their diving team. And the LÉ Róisín, which has been here all day, will be joined by the LÉ Eithne and they propose to continue with the search throughout the night.

”Obviously we’re scaling down the air side of the search but there would be a limited surface search going on through the night.

”A number of fishing vessels have been here for a number of hours and we’ll be scaling down their level of activity, but the search will continue allbeit at a reduced level.”

When asked about the large piece of debris with’Coast Guard’ written on it and the recovery of the craft, he said: “Recovery of debris has been a feature of the search all day and you saw a bigger piece coming in there now. That’s all part of the air accident investigation and debris will be taken into secure storage for further evaluation.”

Asked about the diving plans and the search and rescue operation tomorrow, Mr O’Flynn said: “Both the Navy and Garda divers are on scene and they have done assessments. They’re looking at what diving options will present themselves. I don’t expect there’ll be any diving this evening but they’re looking at what they can do tomorrow and obviously weather is a big factor in terms of diving and also to identify opportunities where it might be worthwhile attempting to dive.

”The area is about two-to-three square miles but I wouldn’t draw any conclusions from that. It is a relatively small area but if one piece of debris is found two-to-three miles away that doesn’t mean it is a human search area.

”The forecast tomorrow is not particularly favourable but at the same time I think there will be good opportunities for searching tomorrow.”

