Death-crash pilot stressed during demonstration flight

The pilot of an aircraft that crashed, killing himself and a passenger, was stressed carrying out the demonstration flight for a group of businessmen, an investigation found today.

The official probe concluded Dubliner Matt Masterson, aged 59, probably rushed his decision to land at Connemara Airport, at Inverin, Co Galway, because he didn’t want to disappoint those onboard.

Accountant Paul McNamee, 57, of Loughrea, Co Galway, also died when the Cessna Caravan struck a mound in a field off the runway.

Seven other businessmen were seriously injured in the crash as they returned from a meeting on Inis Meain in the Aran Islands on July 5, 2007.

The Air Accident Investigation Unit (AAIU) said the pilot was manifestly uncomfortable carrying out the seven-minute demonstration flight because of the weather conditions.

The plane was also over the maximum landing weight, which would have contributed to the crash by making it slower to stop and slower to accelerate when needed.

Mr Masterson was asked to pilot the plane for the group who were involved in setting up an airport at Clifden and were interested in acquiring a similar aircraft.

As they were returning from Inis Meain, there was a major change in the wind direction, which along with the excess weight, made it more difficult for the aircraft to land on the Inverin runway.

The pilot tried to turn the plane around when it became clear he couldn’t stop in time on landing but lost control of the aircraft.

One witness described the plane hitting furze bushes before crashing into a mound in the field with a loud bang and bouncing 100ft into the air.

Both Mr Masterson and Mr McNamee died while the other seven passengers were seriously injured.

The AAIU said the cause of the crash was the loss of control brought on by the late attempt to turn the plane around after trying to land it in a tailwind.

The stress of carrying out a demonstration flight contributed towards the accident, it was found.

The pilot probably did not want to disappoint the businessmen by diverting to a more suitable airport for the wind conditions, according to the investigators.

The inquiry found Mr Masterson did not know the runway was downwind and that he had made no contact with Connemara Airport, which could have informed him of the changed weather conditions and which runway was in use.

It also found that the altimeters were not giving the correct reading, indicating that he was flying at 800ft when in fact he was flying at less than 600ft.

The pilot would have seen the runway earlier from a higher altitude.