Advancing UK Aerospace, Defence, Security & Space Solutions Worldwide
  • Home
  • /
  • Defence
  • /
  • Sonardyne helps hunt crashed helicopter flight recorder

Defence Security

Sonardyne helps hunt crashed helicopter flight recorder

A mission to search for the wreckage of an Irish Coast Guard helicopter which crashed into the Atlantic earlier this year killing all four crew members, was supported with underwater locating equipment from Sonardyne International Ltd.

Above: Scout USBL system mobilised on a local fishing vessel searches the waters around Blackrock for the ' black box' pinger signal, before deploying an ROV equipped with ROV-Homer to locate it.
Courtesy Sonardyne

Within hours of rescuers arriving at the scene of the accident off the west coast of Ireland, Sonardyne Scout USBL (Ultra-Short BaseLine) and ROV-Homer acoustic tracking and relocation systems, owned and operated by the country’s Marine Institute, had detected emergency signals being transmitted from the aircraft’s flight data recorder (FDR). Using an ROV, search teams were subsequently able to pinpoint the exact location of the wreck which was lying in 40 metres of water.

Advertisement
Marshall RT

Rescue 116, a Sikorsky S92 search and rescue helicopter operated by Canadian Helicopter corporation (CHC) on behalf of the Irish Coast Guard, disappeared from radar screens at 12.46am on March 14th in the vicinity of Blackrock, an isolated rocky islet.

As part of the emergency response, Ireland’s Air Accident Investigation Unit (AAIU), together with the Irish Coast Guard, requested equipment and personnel from the Marine Institute to assist with the initial search for the wreckage. This included the Scout USBL system which was mobilised on a local fishing vessel and onsite within four hours of the institute’s team arriving.

The system is typically used for tracking divers, ROVs and underwater vehicles in waters up to 1,000 metres, and is designed to be operated from virtually any type of vessel, small or large. Scout is portable, quick to setup and easy to use making it ideal for short underwater surveys and operations.

Following a three hour search, the Scout picked up the first faint signals from the aircraft’s 37.5 khz Dukane underwater locator beacon attached to its flight data recorder - or ‘black box'. This was despite rough sea conditions and the vessel often operating within 50 metres of the rocky coastline.

Advertisement
Marshall RT

The Marine Institute deployed its Work-class ROV and using the data from the Scout search, operators were able navigate the ROV to the wreck site. The ROV was also equipped with a Sonardyne ROV-Homer system which was used to ‘home’ directly in on the signals from the Dukane pinger. To make moving around through the debris field easier for the ROV’s pilot, a number of transponders compatible with the ROV-Homer were deployed to act as navigation waypoints. Irish navy divers later recovered the flight recorder which was found to be in good condition and transferred it to the UK for analysis.

Reflecting on the performance of their Sonardyne equipment during this difficult mission, Aodhan Fitzgerald, Research Vessel Manager for the Marine Institute said: “The portable design of the Scout meant that we could rapidly mobilise the system onto a vessel of opportunity – a small fishing boat that was made available to us. Despite challenging sea conditions, Scout allowed us to rapidly locate the exact seabed location of the aircraft’s FDR whose recovery was crucial to solving the cause behind this tragedy.”


 

Advertisement
Advanced Navigation LB 1
Survitec secures contract with Babcock for Type-31 Frigate survival technology

Defence

Survitec secures contract with Babcock for Type-31 Frigate survival technology

27 March 2024

Survitec has been awarded a significant contract to supply its Survival Technology to five Type 31 Frigates being built by Babcock for the Royal Navy.

Leonardo secures presence at Bahrain International Airshow

Aerospace Defence Events

Leonardo secures presence at Bahrain International Airshow

26 March 2024

Italian aerospace, defence and security firm, Leonardo has secured its presence at the Bahrain International Airshow for the seventh year.

C3IA Solutions strengthens commitment to British Armed Forces

Defence Security

C3IA Solutions strengthens commitment to British Armed Forces

26 March 2024

Dorset cyber security company C3IA Solutions has re-signed the Armed Forces Covenant in a ceremony at Blandford Camp.

Teledyne FLIR Awarded by Northrop Grumman for Supplier Excellence

Defence

Teledyne FLIR Awarded by Northrop Grumman for Supplier Excellence

25 March 2024

Northrop Grumman Corporation has recognised Teledyne FLIR, part of Teledyne Technologies Incorporated, during the company’s Supplier Excellence Awards.

Advertisement
ODU RT
RTX

Defence

RTX's Raytheon LTAMDS detects and engages complex target

25 March 2024

The Raytheon Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor (LTAMDS) has continued to advance through its US Army test programme with another successful live-fire event.

MBDA

Defence

MBDA's EPIC proposed for EC funding

25 March 2024

As MBDA continues to ramp-up its production, the production ramp-up for ENFORCER missiles – ENFORCER Production Increase Campaign (EPIC) – has been proposed for funding within the European Commission’s ASAP programme.

Advertisement
ODU RT