So it looks like this confirms the theories of contact made with blackrock island from a westerly approach.The AIS data did put the aircraft just west of the island at 12.46am,heading east at 098 degrees towards the west side of the island but at a slow speed of 9kts. From the AAIU information it appears that the tail of the heli collided with the western rockface.Would this mean that the heli was turning away from the island at the last second and that the tail rotor struck the cliff as the crew attempted to save the situation?Maybe with the weather it wasnt possible to see the cliff face till the last second .It still seems strange that the EGPWS did not warn the crew earlier?This does look like a CFIT incident but only time and the fdr cvr will tell for sure.It still looks like they should not have been near blackrock at all.The flight track from dublin goes directly to this rock and not Blacksod. While some have mentioned it could have been used as an approach point this is looking increasingly unlikely given the helis low altitude 9nm out,the low speed of 9kts and the radiocall at 12.45 saying landing shortly at blacksod. It would be interesting to see how these 2 lighthouses appear as navaids in the fms and if the codes are similar.Or do the coordinates of these remote lighthouses have to be entered manually?It is worth looking at the flightpath again in light of the new AAIU information -see attached.This approach shape would have worked perfectly for sealevel blacksod. If one believed they were at sealevel low blacksod but were actually at blackrock it would be serious.At Blacksod you could fly east and low towards the lighthouse and let down 50m away from it without issue,using the same technique in blackrock could leave a collision unavoidable particularly with a low cloud base.However this scenario does seem difficult to believe with such a highly experienced and capable crew used to far more challenging operations out at sea and only the fdr and cvr will tell the full story.
western contact.jpg
Flightpath.jpg