'Inappropriate' landing site chosen in Abbeyshrule helicopter crash

An investigation into a helicopter crash in the Midlands has concluded that the area where the pilot tried to land the aircraft was 'inappropriate and wholly unsuitable' for a landing.

The helicopter, containing a 63-year-old pilot and one passenger, crash-landed on a canal bank adjacent to a restaurant and guesthouse in Abbeyshrule, Co. Longford, on July 15, 2015.

The helicopter was destroyed and there was substantial damage to the building it hit, but the two people on board were not injured.

A person who was in the building at the time received a small cut below his left eye, which may have been as a result of flying debris, and other members of the public were in close proximity to the helicopter while it attempted to land. 

The Air Accident Investigation Unit (AAIU) today published its investigation into the incident. 

It stated that the main rotor blades of the helicopter (a Westland Gazelle HT Mk.3) made contact with a timber-clad wall of the building.

'This caused the tail of the elicopter to swing rapidly towards the wall and collide with it,' stated the report.

'The tail boom separated from the helicopter, broke apart, and came to rest in the canal. The helicopter rolled to the right and impacted with the canal bank. Debris was scattered over a large area of the canal and its bank.'

The helicopter had recently been flown from the UK to Mullingar, and on the date of the accident it was being flown from Mullingar to Abbeyshrule, where the pilot planned to stay overnight in the guesthouse before flying back to the UK.

The AAIU concluded that the pilot had attempted to land in 'very confined' location on a 'narrow' canal bank.

This location was 'inappropriate and wholly unsuitable for a helicopter landing,' the report found.

It also stated that because the helicopter was an ex-military aircraft, permission for it to operate in Ireland was required from the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA). 

'The IAA advised the investigation that a request for such permission was not received,' it said. 

The report can be read in full here: http://www.aaiu.ie/sites/default/files/report-attachments/REPORT%202017-004.pdf