‘Going to end up in a field’ pilot said before fatal Waterford crash

The last transmission by a pilot killed in a light aircraft crash last month contained the words “going to end up in a field,” investigators have established.

Former marine engineer Howard Cox, 67, was on his way from Waterford to Shannon on July 25 but, minutes after take-off, he told air traffic control his craft had an engine fire and was going to have to land just moments before he crashed into a field in Co Waterford.

A preliminary report published by the Air Accident Investigation Unit (AAIU) reveals the pilot’s voice was “composed and professional” even while transmitting details of the problem which would result in his plane crashing in a field in Garranbaun, near Dungarvan, on July 25.