10 December 2004

Royal Navy aircrew killed in Lynx crash named

The Ministry of Defence has named the four aircrew killed when a Lynx helicopter crashed in the English Channel off Cornwall on December 8.

A spokesperson for the Royal Navy said that wreckage had been located on the seabed some 17 miles off Lizard Point and it was later confirmed that four bodies were identified in the vicinity of the wreckage.

The four aircrew came from 229 Flight of 815 Naval Air Squadron, which has its home base at Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton in Somerset. They were named as:

Lieutenant Dave Cole, 34, was an Observer and the Commander of 229 Flight. He was married and lived in Dorset.
Lieutenant Rob Dunn, 29, was a Pilot. He was engaged to be married and also lived in Dorset.
Lieutenant Jamie Mitchell, 29, an Observer, from Dundee was single.
LAEM Richard Darnell, 31, the Flight Engineer and Winchman, was single, he lived in Torquay.

The Lynx helicopter was conducting a precautionary search of the sea off Lizard Point, following reports of a possible man-over-board in the area. Contact with the helicopter was lost at around 7.20pm.

A Royal Navy Sea King helicopter from RNAS Culdrose engaged on the same search immediately diverted to look for the Lynx, and another Sea King was immediately scrambled from Culdrose. A Royal Air Force Sea King from Chivenor also scrambled, and a French maritime patrol aircraft provided assistance.

The frigates HMS St Albans, HMS Montrose and the German frigate Sachsen which had been involved in the earlier search joined the hunt for the missing helicopter. The aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious arrived in the area around midnight to act as a forward refuelling platform for the search and rescue helicopters.

The helicopters briefly stood down to rest the crews at 4.00am, but resumed the aerial search at first light at 7.30am on December 9.

The minehunter HMS Pembroke assisted in locating the wreckage with sonar, and a salvage vessel examined the scene with an underwater camera.

The Royal Navy spokesperson said: "Our thoughts and prayers are very much with the missing crew members' families at this very difficult time".

(SP/MB)