Door falls off Helicopter

VO

The Minister for Electronic Voting Machines Martin Cullen had a lucky escape when the door fell off an Air Corps Helicopter bringing him home form Killarney yesterday.

Another bad buy by our Government , we have had

1. Electronic Voting Machines
2. Helicopters for Chad taht were not licenced to carry troops
3. Now Helicopters taht doors fall off

Does anybody know of other purchases that don't work that this Government have authorised and purchased (Apart from the present Cabinet)

Sesshoumaru

That gave me a good chuckle, it would be funnier of course if it wasn't my money paying for that piece of crap.

joolsveer

Lucky for Cullen that the tax payer sent a second helicopter to collect him from Killarney.

nhughes100

I wonder did any of the crew have an urge to push something(one)?

OhNoYouDidn't

VO wrote: »

The Minister for Electronic Voting Machines Martin Cullen had a lucky escape when the door fell off an Air Corps Helicopter bringing him home form Killarney yesterday.

Another bad buy by our Government , we have had

1. Electronic Voting Machines
2. Helicopters for Chad taht were not licenced to carry troops
3. Now Helicopters taht doors fall off

Does anybody know of other purchases that don't work that this Government have authorised and purchased (Apart from the present Cabinet)

The doors are designed to come off (think Vietnam films) because they are combat helicopters not designed for comfort that the cabinet membets have co-opted as taxis.

There was no risk at all to Cullen.

old boy

for i while i thought we were in hard luck, an 05 mondeo with a sat nav is plenty good enough for them wasters, let them drive themselves.

anthony4335

I wonder are the air corps trying to tell the government something, cut the buget and accidents will happen!
The crewman should have given a little push.

Darsad

At least he was dressed this time . Last story involving this waster and aircraft was when he was strolling around first class in his pyjamas enroute to the olympics while the athletes were cramped in economy.

moonbug33

It may be seemingly insignificant but it’s the last straw for me, and if the door hadn’t fallen off we would never have known of this extravagance. So much money is getting spent like this and we don’t hear about it. We really are been made fools out of. Martin Cullen needs to arrange and plan his activities in such a way as he can travel like the rest of us.
Feeling the pain ………..crap.

silverharp

cant help thinking of the father ted episode, was there a big red button with do not press on it

theDOOjustDID

yes nhughes100,,,
i like what you've done there LOL:D:D
i think they should be charged for littering....
tax payers money flying these f**ks around.
its time this government starts respecting the people
who their taking for a ride in a no door helicopter:)

Akrasia

Why was cullen in a helicopter in the first place? Ireland is a small country, we already pay a feckin fortune on cars and drivers for these muppets and they still swan around in helicopters at the tax payers expense.

If Killarney is close enough from dublin that sick cancer patients can be expected to commute by road a few times a week, its close enough for a minister to travel by car with a garda escort and no regard for speed limits.

jmayo

OhNoYouDidn't wrote: »

The doors are designed to come off (think Vietnam films) because they are combat helicopters not designed for comfort that the cabinet membets have co-opted as taxis.

There was no risk at all to Cullen.

Actually you are kinda wrong in that it is more the other way around.
The helis are more setup for civilian use with a military paint job applied.
AFIAK now of course they are not kitted out in full executive comfort but it ain't like they are kitted out like Blackhawks or Lynx.

Akrasia wrote: »

Why was cullen in a helicopter in the first place? Ireland is a small country, we already pay a feckin fortune on cars and drivers for these muppets and they still swan around in helicopters at the tax payers expense.

If Killarney is close enough from dublin that sick cancer patients can be expected to commute by road a few times a week, its close enough for a minister to travel by car with a garda escort and no regard for speed limits.

The sotry I heard was that he had been ferried from Waterford to Killarney and that when leaving door exit stage right and then he was picked up at Farranfore airport by a second, yes a second AW 139 that had been diverted from excercises in Cork.

If there was air amblance service in this country supported by the state it would probably be used to ferry ministers around :rolleyes:

Akrasia

its a real pity this incident was so 'traumatic' that nobody in the media will dare ask him to account for this disgraceful waste of public money

marlin vs

Prick poncing around like a sheik, while the rest of the country in going down the tubes, I wonder what's going on that we don't hear about.:mad:

Darragh29

jmayo wrote: »

If there was air amblance service in this country supported by the state it would probably be used to ferry ministers around :rolleyes:

The government jet is frequenty used to transport organ transplant patients to Guy's Hospital in London...

spadder

marlin vs wrote: »

Prick poncing around like a sheik, while the rest of the country in going down the tubes, I wonder what's going on that we don't hear about.:mad:

I pointed out in another thread that Noel Dempsey uses Trim GAA pitch as his own personal heli-pad. I have pictures to prove it too.

Maybe they just use the chopper because you can get three times the milage allowance in one day by swanning around the country in it.

bmaxi

I would really love to know what exactly is the hold Cullen has on the powers that be. He has to be the most inept Government Minister ever to have walked the planet and is an almost constant source of ridicule and embarrassment. What does he know and about whom?

force eleven

bmaxi wrote: »

I would really love to know what exactly is the hold Cullen has on the powers that be. He has to be the most inept Government Minister ever to have walked the planet and is an almost constant source of ridicule and embarrassment. What does he know and about whom?

I agree. The voting machine scandal would be enough to end a ministers career in most other western democracies, but not here. Here, you just get quietly moved onto another ministerial position and away you go. But people keep voting them in, so I guess that's democracy no?

dodgyme

unreal cullen is a real p*sspuller.

A short time earlier, the tourism minister had told journalists at the IHF meeting in Killarney that he plans to travel business or first class when he goes away for St Patrick's Day, despite the downturn.

"I'll be travelling internationally and Ryanair don't fly where I'll be going to," he said. Mr Cullen stressed the benefit of St Patrick's Day trips, saying they offered "an opportunity that is the envy of everyone" all over the world. Mr Cullen's travels also made the headlines last month when it emerged that he and three officials ran up a staggering €67,000 bill during a three-week trip to Beijing for the Olympic Games last summer

jmayo

Darragh29 wrote: »

The government jet is frequenty used to transport organ transplant patients to Guy's Hospital in London...

Yes they do the odd flight and the Aer Corps actually do patient transfers but they are not a real air ambulance service.
We don't have a realair ambulance service until ou count the new one setup through fund raising in the south.

If each province were covered by two Helis, then we could indeed have the centres of excellence for trauma and A&E.

bmaxi wrote: »

I would really love to know what exactly is the hold Cullen has on the powers that be. He has to be the most inept Government Minister ever to have walked the planet and is an almost constant source of ridicule and embarrassment. What does he know and about whom?

One of his big advantages is geography. Waterford needs a minister just like they need a university don't you know :rolleyes:

Akrasia

force eleven wrote: »

I agree. The voting machine scandal would be enough to end a ministers career in most other western democracies, but not here. Here, you just get quietly moved onto another ministerial position and away you go. But people keep voting them in, so I guess that's democracy no?

he gets voted in because "he's good for waterford"

He's 'good for waterford' because in Ireland, ministers are allowed (ney encouraged) to participate in political clientelism at every opportunity using public money to buy their seat in the next election.

Bunnyhopper

I have to echo the question that a few have put already - what was he doing using a helicopter anyway??

Revenues are down, taxes are heading up, unemployment is rising, spending cuts will get even more painful than they've been already, etc., etc. and that lamp is swanning about the place in not one but TWO helicopters?

Chauffeur-driven Mercedes E-Class not good enough for you, Marty?

Shameful, or it would be if he had any sense of shame.

joolsveer

I heard this afternoon that three helicopters were involved in Cullen's adventure.

kowloon

Darragh29 wrote: »

The government jet is frequenty used to transport organ transplant patients to Guy's Hospital in London...

I wonder which get priority, transplant patients or ministers on their way to open off-licences.

Mr.Micro

Darragh29 wrote: »

The government jet is frequenty used to transport organ transplant patients to Guy's Hospital in London...

Any chance of them bringing back a few brains as several brain transplants are needed.:D

Akrasia

joolsveer wrote: »

I heard this afternoon that three helicopters were involved in Cullen's adventure.

Michael martin was on the radio this morning dodging this very issue "I can't speak about this specific circumstance, but I had to go to egypt last week..."

donaghs

Asking for more tax and continuing to waste our money. We only find out about a fraction of the waste when there's a cock-up or an accident like this.

dodgyme

IRELAND CANNOT afford to build a velodrome as a practice cycling facility for the 2012 London Olympics, Minister for Sport Martin Cullen has conceded in the Dáil.

Mr Cullen said the matter could be looked at “if there were a possibility of private sector support”. However, “this is unlikely in the current economic situation”.

Frogdog

I'm from Kerry and live near the airport. I also know a few people that work there. And I went to school in Killarney so I know the whole area quite well.

The story I heard is that he was driven from the conference in the hotel in Killarney town centre out to the golf club where the helicopter was waiting for him. This is a 10 minute drive (due to traffic etc). The golf club is on the opposite side of Killarney to where the airport in Farranfore is. Farranfore is a 15 minute (max) drive from Killarney. He got the helicopter from Killarney golf club to the airport in Farranfore before getting on a Ryanair flight (<--what I heard) to Dublin. His weekend trip cost him over €8,000. He must have gone to the toilet on the flight a couple of times I guess. €€€!

VO

Akrasia wrote: »

Michael martin was on the radio this morning dodging this very issue "I can't speak about this specific circumstance, but I had to go to egypt last week..."

Its a pity he didn't do us all a favour , bring the whole cabinet to Egypt and stay there - another useless plucker.

Morpheus

I suggest a media campaign whereby the newspapers do a league table of the travel costs - at expense to the tax payer - that individual ministers (and then expand to their entire departments) run up on a week by week basis. this information (the cost of the travel arrangements) has to be made public on request as far as i know, so the media could contact each departments public office and ask for a breakdown of the costs involved in the ministers work over the last week and then publish it in a premier league style table.

We could even have Fantasy Junket and you buy a group of ministers (for 50c each) and you get bonuses when they travel in different styles and a super bonus for an event like monday!! what fun.

But seriously, a smear campaign like this would make that bunch of useless dust gatherers think twice about stunts like this.

kravmaga

VO wrote: »

The Minister for Electronic Voting Machines Martin Cullen had a lucky escape when the door fell off an Air Corps Helicopter bringing him home form Killarney yesterday.

Another bad buy by our Government , we have had

1. Electronic Voting Machines
2. Helicopters for Chad that were not licenced to carry troops
3. Now Helicopters taht doors fall off

Does anybody know of other purchases that don't work that this Government have authorised and purchased (Apart from the present Cabinet)

This story just gets better.
Just read on Page 7 of todays Sunday Tribune that Cullens Helicopter door was opened inadvertently on emergency release handle by one of the passenger's. Doesn't mention who for obviuos reasons.

PR bit at the end of the article to justify Cullen using the AW139 in the first instance.

Sand

Who knows, he might have been getting briefed on the latest budget figures at the time. People have been known to do desperate things in times of terror and distress.

Nodin

blueeyedboy wrote: »

This story just gets better.
Just read on Page 7 of todays Sunday Tribune that Cullens Helicopter door was opened inadvertently on emergency release handle by one of the passenger's.
.

This is not an unknown phenomena

ejmaztec

Before clicking on this old thread, I assumed that the rogue door had been bouncing round the country for a couple of weeks killing everyone in its path.

Darragh29

VO wrote: »

Does anybody know of other purchases that don't work that this Government have authorised and purchased (Apart from the present Cabinet)

Let me see, we had a financial regulator, he didn't work.

We had a central bank governor, he didn't work.

We had a minister for finance, he didn't work.

Wasn't there a PPARS project that cost tens of millions and that doesn't work?

Whatever financial accounting system they are using in the Dept. of Finance clearly is f*cked because they never know what is coming in and what is going out.

The Garda Pulse System, apparemtly that doesn't work either or at least not the way it should work.

Dannyboy83

Darragh29 wrote: »

Let me see, we had a financial regulator, he didn't work.

We had a central bank governor, he didn't work.

We had a minister for finance, he didn't work.

Wasn't there a PPARS project that cost tens of millions and that doesn't work?

Whatever financial accounting system they are using in the Dept. of Finance clearly is f*cked because they never know what is coming in and what is going out.

The Garda Pulse System, apparemtly that doesn't work either or at least not the way it should work.

And it will continue. And continue. And continue.
Because nobody is held accountable.

The more things change................................