When a rope severed a thumb on one of trawlerman James John Strachen’s hands, it set off a chain of events that culminated in the greatest tragedy in living memory to befall the Irish Coast Guard.
Strachen was a crew member of the Kings Cross, a 78m-long, ocean-going trawler then based out of Peterhead in eastern Scotland. In February 2017, the trawler and its crew of up to 15 set out from Killybegs, Co Donegal, to fish for blue whiting in the Atlantic.
They were on the northern edge of the Porcupine Bank when captain William Buchan decided to haul in the net. Strachen was assigned to one side of the vessel and tasked to clear a part of the netting as it was being winched on board.
He was wearing gloves but his hand became entangled. He made to clear himself free but his thumb was stuck and, although he got his hand out of the glove, the thumb had been severed by a rope and part of it remained inside the glove.
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Shocked and in considerable pain, he was moved to a locker room and given first aid. Buchan got the severed thumb, put it into a freezer and called for help.
Ian Scott, the Coast Guard radio operator at Malin Head who was alerted to the problems on the Kings Cross, called for a medical evacuation of Mr Strachen and Coast Guard helicopter R118 was assigned the task.
Scott tried initially to get top-cover support from the Air Corps but none was available. Had it been, the Air Corps’ Casa maritime surveillance fixed-wing aircraft might have been dispatched.
His second choice was help from the UK. However, again, none was available from sources there. Instead, R116, another Coast Guard search-and-rescue (SAR) helicopter based on Ireland’s east coast, was tasked.
[ Rescue 116 crew deaths were accidental, inquest jury rulesOpens in new window ]
Top cover involves a second aircraft flying above another when the other is carrying a task and needs observing while doing so. The top-cover aircraft can assist with operational communications and, in certain instances, may be able to become more directly involved if needed.
The question as to whether an emergency helicopter evacuation was medically necessary was central to evidence heard at the inquest into the R116 crash which concluded in Mayo on Thursday with a verdict of accidental death for all four crew members.
Dr Mai Nguyen, an emergency registrar at Cork University Hospital, which takes all such calls from maritime sources, said she felt Mr Strachan’s need was not an emergency. His injury was “minor in nature”, the thumb would not be capable of being reattached but dispatching a helicopter was not her call, she told the coroner.
Ian Scott told the inquest: “In my opinion, the man needed to be taken off the vessel.” He would make the same judgment today as he did then.
In recommending that “definitive medical criteria” should determine, unambiguously, whether an evacuation should be directed, the inquest jury was suggesting this may not have been such an instance.
Refuelling
Because of the distances to be, covered (the Kings Cross was some 180 nautical miles off the west coast), R116 would have to refuel.
Initially, the captain, Dara Fitzpatrick, opted for refuelling in Sligo because of weather off the west coast. But when advised by R118 that the weather was alright, she opted for Blacksod lighthouse, on the eastern side of the southern end of Mayo’s Mullet peninsula.
The evacuation at sea was accomplished without incident and R118 headed back to the mainland to get Mr Strachen to hospital.
In recommending that top cover should not be provided by a second SAR aircraft – that is, another Coast Guard helicopter – the inquest jury seemed to be suggesting that doing so was an unacceptable risk to the SAR service.
R116 headed for Blacksod lighthouse. As it approached from the west on a flightpath known to aviators as APBSS, Blackrock island lay in its path. Cloud cover was 300 feet; the island was about the same height. R116 flew at 200 feet – insufficient altitude to clear the island should it seek to pass directly over it.
The island’s height was not marked on maps contained within the helicopter’s enhanced ground proximity warning system (EGPWS), said Jurgen Whyte, the air accident lead investigator. He said the EGPWS was primarily a warning system used in commercial aviation approaching airports or high terrain.
“It is not designed to be used to navigate at low level,” he said.
He said that even if Blackrock had been considered for inclusion in a map inside the EGPWS system, it would not in fact have been included because it was less than 100m high.
“In this case, that obstacle would never have met the criteria to be included,” he said.
Foreman Mark Ruddy read the verdicts and recommendations with emotion clearly evident in his voice.
A tragedy that began more than five years ago, and prompted detailed examination by numerous State agencies and personnel, as well as overseas expertise, had officially reached its conclusion – accidental death.
