Scores of divers renew search for helicopter crew

Scores of divers have been taking part in renewed efforts to find the bodies of two winchmen missing after an Irish Coast Guard helicopter crashed off the Co Mayo coast last month.

Rescue 116 went down in the Atlantic at 12.46am on 14 March with four crew on board after it struck Blackrock Island 12 miles offshore.

Air accident investigators have established that one of the Sikorksy S-92's internal warning systems did not include the terrain of the rocky outcrop and its working lighthouse in its database.

The wreck was found on the seabed just off the island.

Captain Dara Fitzpatrick, commander of the flight, died after being pulled from the sea in the hours after the crash.

Meanwhile, the body of Captain Mark Duffy, co-pilot on the flight, was taken from the cockpit 12 days later by Navy divers.

However, the bodies of winchmen Paul Ormsby and Ciaran Smith have yet to be found - despite weeks of intensive seabed, surface and shore searches.

Divers from clubs affiliated to the Irish Underwater Council joined the Garda sub-aqua unit and local fishing boats for focused inspection of the seabed around Blackrock.

A wreath-laying ceremony also took place on the pier next to the lighthouse in Blacksod where Rescue 116 had been due to refuel before tragedy struck.