Cork’s first flying doctor service bids for take off

PLANS are advancing to set up a vital flying doctor service in west Cork.

Project promoters believe that the use of a fixed wing plane could take less than 30 minutes to get a patient from the atlantic island of Cape Clear to Cork University Hospital — instead of three hours by sea and road.

They have identified a number of possible airstrip bases between Skibbereen and Bantry. The group is looking at the acquisition of a fixed wing aircraft, although a helicopter has not been ruled out.