Helicopter crash not reported for a day

ALMOST a day elapsed before the emergency services were alerted to the disappearance of a helicopter, found crashed, with two crew dead on board.

The last radio contact between the two crew members – pilot Colm Clancy and trainee Dermot Sheridan – and air traffic control, was at 4.12pm on April 1, 2009. It was 10.38am on April 2 before a search for the missing helicopter was initiated following a call from a concerned family member of one of the missing men.

The time lapse between the disappearance of the aircraft and the time it was reported missing has been highlighted in a preliminary report into the accident by the Air Accident Investigation Unit (AAIU) of the Department of Transport.

The investigation has also ruled out weather as a factor in the crash which claimed the lives of 34-year-old Mr Clancy, from Derrybeg, Co Donegal, and 24-year-old Mr Sheridan from Co Clare, who both died after the helicopter they were flying cut through power lines and crashed in bogland 6km east of Carbury, Co Kildare. The lines were unpowered at the time.

Investigators said they were currently examining all engineering and operational aspects of the flight, including what exercise was being carried out at the time of the accident. “The investigation is concerned over the amount of time that had elapsed before the helicopter was notified as missing and will therefore be examining the flight planning process and requirements associated with the accident flight,” investigators said in a draft report published yesterday.

The helicopter was engaged on an instructional flight from Weston Airport, Co Kildare, with Mr Clancy acting as flight instructor and Mr Sheridan a student pilot. They departed Weston at 4.01pm and made final radio contact at 4.12pm.

The last movement recorded at Weston on the day was the arrival of a privately owned helicopter at 7.21pm. The Air Traffic Watch was closed shortly afterwards at 7.30pm.

The following morning a concerned family member contacted the airfield, and a search for the missing helicopter was initiated. At 10.38pm, Dublin Air Traffic Control requested the assistance of the Irish Coast Guard. The accident site was located in bog land near Kilshanchoe, at 11.27am.

The wreckage of the seven-year-old Schweizer helicopter was removed to the AAIU wreckage examination facility at Gormanston, Co Meath.

The full report is due to be completed later this year.