A ping from the Black Box flight recorder on board Rescue 116 has been located off Blackrock Lighthouse in Blacksod Bay.
The find has been described as hugely signicant by the Air Accident Investigation Unit. They will now bring in a smaller vessel to allow a dive to take place in the hope of rcovering the box.
Jurgen Whyte of the AAIU says its a huge breakthrough;
Jurgen Whyte, the chief accident inspector with the AAIU explains what the next steps are in physically finding the black box recorder;
Meanwhile, the Minister for Transport says everything possible will be done to find the 3 missing crew members from Rescue 116.
A massive air, sea and shoreline search has been ongoing off the Mayo coast, since the rescue helicopter disappeared from radar screens in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
The body of Captain Dara Fitzpatrick was pulled from the sea a few hours later but so far rescue teams have been unable to locate the remaining crew.
Transport Minister Shane Ross is meeting their families in Blacksod this afternoon.
Minister @Shane_RossTD arrives st #blacksod to speak to relatives, rescue workers #Rescue116 pic.twitter.com/kYNwEYGxn9
— Juliette Gash (@JulietteGash) March 15, 2017
Mark Duffy, Paul Ormsby and Ciaran Smith were also on boardRescue 116 when it disappeared on Tuesday morning. Locals are assisting the search effort too. In Ionad Deirbhile in Blacksod trays of sandwiches and snacks and cups of tea have been offered free of charge to people on site. Donations are requested for the Coastguard.
Gorgeous, warm welcome provided by Ionad Deirbhile visitor centre in #Blacksod, free for rescue workers, donations to coastguard from others pic.twitter.com/IHkOuA9nn2
— Juliette Gash (@JulietteGash) March 15, 2017
Air, sea and sea-bed are all being searched intensively by multi-agency teams.
Visibility has improved significantly and Coastguard helicopter coming in to refuel at #Blacksod during #Rescue116 search pic.twitter.com/PVg4wqyact
— Juliette Gash (@JulietteGash) March 15, 2017
EARLIER
The LE Eithne kept searching through the night, while a marine survey vessel arrived on the scene early this morning to carry out a sonar search.
Gerard O'Flynn from the Coastguard says Navy vessels the LE Roisin and LE Niamh continued their search through the night;
"Coastguard" clearly legible on debris #rescue116 @TodayFMNews pic.twitter.com/MQINg2Nebt
— Juliette Gash (@JulietteGash) March 14, 2017
