Businessman had raised safety concerns with crash helicopter’s manufacturers

The Northern businessman who died in a helicopter crash in England had recently raised safety concerns with the aircraft’s manufacturers.

Edward Haughey, the North’s richest man and a former member of the Seanad, was killed with three others when his AgustaWestland AW139 helicopter came down in thick fog in a field in Gillingham, near Beccles, Norfolk, at 7.30pm on Thursday.

Two pilots killed in the crash in Norfolk have been named by sources as Carl Dickerson, chief pilot at Haughey Air Ltd, and Lee Hoyle, a co-pilot at the company, which was owned by Mr Haughey. The fourth man who died was named locally as Declan Small, 42, from Co Down, a foreman who worked for Mr Haughey.