Air Corps 'incidents' include tyre blow-out and landing on wrong runway 

In one incident, a Pilatus aircraft suffered a burst tyre as it came into land at Knock Airport with an investigation finding the brakes had inadvertently been hit too hard. Picture: Gareth Chaney Collins

An aircraft that blew out a tyre on landing, a crew member suffering from low oxygen with his fingernails turning blue, and a plane attempting to land on the wrong runway are among the incidents investigated by the Air Corps over the past three years.

In one incident, a Pilatus aircraft suffered a burst tyre as it came into land at Knock Airport with an investigation finding the brakes had inadvertently been hit too hard.

As the plane landed, the pilot could feel the right wing begin to drop and made adjustments believing it was because of a crosswind.

On inspection, a hole of around one inch by half an inch was noticed in the tyre while a technical crew also found metal particles in samples of fuel.

The report said the cause of the accident was the inadvertent use of an “excessive braking action”, with the runway at Knock also considered to have a particularly rough surface.

In another incident, a crew member suffered hypoxia – or low oxygen levels – on board a flight from Baldonnel to Shannon Airport last year.

An investigation report said the crew member had to move between two areas of the aircraft multiple times during the journey.

“After repeatedly doing this, the [crew member] noticed mild symptoms of hypoxia in himself,” it said.

It said there were difficulties in accessing the aircraft’s oxygen mask, and that when they did gain access and connected a mask, no oxygen was available.

The affected crew member ended up having to use a green oxygen cylinder bottle, which is intended for use by passengers.

The investigation report said the crew member’s fingernails had been turning blue, and he began to feel a tingling sensation in his fingertips and face. He was also finding it harder to breathe and had turned pale.

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An investigation also took place after an aircraft was forced to change its landing plans at the last minute when a Garda helicopter was involved in the pursuit of a suspect in Tallaght in June 2020.

The report said that during the incident, the Garda helicopter was operating with an “extremely high workload” that had led to “degradation” of situational awareness.

It said this had led to a “conflict” between aircraft coming into land at Baldonnel and the helicopter that was involved in a policing operation.

Another report from July 2019 detailed an aborted landing at Sligo Aerodrome after the pilot realised he was headed for the wrong runway.

The investigation said distraction was a factor as the aircraft captain was trying to explain the operations of the plane to a cadet who was on board with him.

It concluded: “This report highlights how distraction and expectancy can impact negatively on flight safety.” 

A spokesman for the Defence Forces said: “The Irish Air Corps (IAC) has a robust and proactive safety reporting culture. In keeping with international best practice for both civil and military aviation, incident/accident investigation reports are conducted in accordance with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Annex 19.”