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(Article) - chopper crash in Co. Clare

Comments

  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Regional East Moderators Posts: 18,661 CMod ✭✭✭✭The Black Oil




  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,338 ✭✭✭hobie


    PPRuNe has a photo of the crash site .... :(

    http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=283751


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,189 ✭✭✭✭jmayo


    Looks like it is Irish Helicopters' EI-IHL an AS350 B1 that was based out of Weston.
    It has been a bad week for Irish aviation.
    PPRUNE does not have a photo of crash site.
    Lets wait for AAIB to do their investigation before people start offering opinions on what happened please.

    RIP and condolences to the family of the dead.

    I am not allowed discuss …



  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,338 ✭✭✭hobie


    jmayo wrote:
    Looks like it is Irish Helicopters' EI-IHL an AS350 B1 that was based out of Weston.
    It has been a bad week for Irish aviation.
    PPRUNE does not have a photo of crash site. Lets wait for AAIB to do their investigation before people start offering opinions on what happened please.

    RIP and condolences to the family of the dead.

    PPRuNe did have a photo of the crash site .... looked as if it may have been taken by an overhead Heli ..... I note it has now been removed from the PPRuNe thread ....


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,472 ✭✭✭highlydebased


    Rest in Peace, those who were killed

    No photo of the crash site there now, just a photo of the aircraft itself

    The AAIU release preliminary reports pretty soon after the accident


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  • Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 6,527 Mod ✭✭✭✭sharkman


    Fred Balcombe, an Irish Helicopters employee from Skerries in north Dublin, lost his life in the crash.(His daughter is a close family friend)

    The helicopter went down in a field around 10 miles from Ennis while conducting a survey along the route of a gas pipeline.From what Ive been told , there was no mayday , when shannon lost them they alerted the rescue chopper which was in the area and they located the downed aircraft .

    heli-crash_155814b.jpg

    Passenger Fred Balcombe (69), from Townparks, Skerries, Co Dublin, was pronounced dead at the scene. The pilot, who was named as John Todd, survived the impact with serious head injuries and was taken to Galway University Hospital where he was in a stable condition last night.

    The Irish Helicopters-owned helicopter had been contracted by Bord Gais to carry out a survey of land close to its Galway-to-Shannon gas pipeline.

    The pilot is said to have been "very experienced".

    The crash occurred at around 12.55pm near the village of Ballynacally, about 10 miles from Ennis.

    The two men were employed by Irish Helicopters, a company which specialises in patrolling the country's network of main gas and electrical pipelines through aerial inspection.

    The men were checking for land disturbance along the route of the pipeline. at the time of the crash.

    The helicopter, an Aerospatiale AS350 Squirrel, was extensively damaged in the crash, but despite fears of a fuel leak, there was no fire. Emergency crews had to climb ditches and walls to get access to the crash site. Three units of the fire brigade from Ennis, including a specialised emergency tender, and two ambulances from Ennis were sent to the scene. A team of paramedics from Limerick was also dispatched to the crash site along with senior ambulance and fire servicepersonnel.

    The Shannon-based Irish Coastguard rescue helicopter was scrambled to the scene to airlift the pilot to University Hospital Galway where he was being treated last night for serious head injuries. A spokesperson for UHG confirmed that the man remained in "a stable condition".

    A second Irish Helicopters chopper arrived at the scene about an hour after the crash to assist in the investigation.

    From Independent.ie


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,738 ✭✭✭mawk


    for anyone who is interested the pilot is a family friend and im informed that he has been removed from the ICU as his condition has improved. he came off crazy lucky..


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,941 ✭✭✭pclancy


    A bad week for irish aviation allright :( RIP to all and a speedy recovery to those still in hospital...


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 500 ✭✭✭slickmcvic


    met the pilot he gave me a spin in the chopper as a kid over 15 yrs ago...he was very experienced & knew his stuff

    heard the story earlierfrom a V Good source
    Chopper 500ft up
    Red light came on...engine failure
    Pilot glides chopper onto ground lands in a bush
    Both survive initial impact get out of wreckege & talking to each other
    Fatalty results from suspected heart attack/shock


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