Watch: After a 21-year wait, helicopters land again at CUH

The helicopter flight landings on Monday are the first since CUH's original helipad was decommissioned in 2003

Residents in Wilton and Glasheen in Cork City's western suburbs saw and heard something missing since 2003 when helicopters made the first test landings at Cork University Hospital's new helipad. Pictures: Chani Anderson

The first patient flights in more than 20 years could be landing at Cork University Hospital (CUH) before the end of this week as test flights got underway on its new helipad  on Monday.

The HSE and National Ambulance Service air ambulance, Aero Med 01, with Captain Gerry Morgan and co-pilot Adrian Kenny at the controls, touched down on the new helipad just after 10am with Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) paramedics Peter Delea and Stephen Galvin on board the EC135 aircraft.