THE TAOISEACH and the Minister for Defence were among those who attended a prayer service at Casement Aerodrome, Baldonnel, last night for the two Air Corps pilots who were killed when their aircraft crashed into a hillside in Connemara earlier this week.
The remains of Capt Derek Furniss (32), of Rathfarnham, Dublin and Cadet David Jevens (22), of Glynn, Co Wexford, were driven yesterday evening from University College Hospital, Galway to Air Corps headquarters at Baldonnel.
The hearses were led by the Air Corps Pipe Band and driven past a guard of honour of some 100 members of the corps. Two eight-man bearer parties carried the coffins to the church door. The coffins were both dressed in a tricolour with ceremonial hats laid on top.
The remains were blessed by chaplain Jerry Carroll at the door of the Garrison Church. “We welcome you home,” Fr Carroll said as part of the blessing before entering the church.
Among the 400 people inside the church were family, colleagues of Capt Furniss from the flight training school, colleagues of Cadet Jevens from the 27th Airborne and friends of the two men, Defence Forces chief of staff Lieut Gen Dermot Earley, GOC Air Corps Brig Gen Ralph James and Capt Brian Walsh, representing President McAleese, who is in Luxembourg.
Before the service the Taoiseach, Brian Cowen, and Minister for Defence Willie ODea met the families of the two pilots to express their sympathies.
During the ceremony Brig Gen James spoke of the common traits the two men had – they both always had a smile, were always willing to take on any task, always had pride in their uniform and had without doubt made a difference.
The bodies remained at the church overnight and many colleagues and friends were expected to visit through the night.
The wreckage of the Swiss-built Pilatus PC-9 training aircraft was taken by Air Corps recovery vehicles to Gormanston, Co Meath, yesterday evening , where the Department of Transport’s Air Accident Investigation Unit (AAIU) will conduct its inquiry into causes of the crash last Monday night.
The AAIU investigators have already conducted a preliminary survey of the crash site in the remote valley at Crimlin East, near Cornamona, Co Galway, and sent a team to Shannon to review the radar data from the flight. The plane was emitting a transponder code, which would be recorded on radar tapes and would map the plane’s route from Baldonnel to Connemara last Monday evening.
Flight and cockpit voice recorders have already been recovered from the scene, and an Air Corps AW-139 helicopter undertook a number of flights to deliver sections of the wreckage from Crimlin east to the GAA grounds at Cornamona.
Both pilots will be buried with full military honours. A memorial service for Capt Furniss will take place next Saturday at noon at St John the Evangelist Church, Ballinteer Road, Dublin, with burial afterwards at Kilmashogue cemetery.
Cadet David Jevens will be buried tomorrow after requiem Mass at 11am at St Alphonsus Church, Barntown, Co Wexford.