Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie
(Article) - chopper crash in Co. Clare
Options
-
12-07-2007 2:26pm#1
Comments
-
-
-
-
-
-
Advertisement
-
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 .
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.ie0 -
-
-
Advertisement