Crashed helicopter blade hit lamppost

A HELICOPTER which crash-landed into a school car park in Bettystown, Co Meath, last month had no technical problems, according to a preliminary report from the Air Accident Investigation Unit (AAIU).

The rotor blade struck a lamppost, the report said.

The crash happened shortly before 4pm on September 18th in the car park of Coláiste na hInse secondary school. The school was using part of the ground floor of the former Neptune Hotel as temporary accommodation for 80 first-year students.

The students were not in the school at the time, having finished for the day at 3.25pm.

There were no fatalities in the accident, though three people were injured.

The preliminary report, by investigator Paddy Judge, said the 23-year-old Sikorsky helicopter, which was registered in the US and privately owned, had earlier landed and shut down on the beach, where it dropped off two passengers.

The passengers, businessmen Séamus Belton and Paddy Byrne, were attending a meeting in the Neptune with the hotel's owner, Denis Reddin.

The pilot then decided to move the helicopter to the car park 100 metres away because he was concerned at the increasing number of sightseers gathering around it, the report said.

As the helicopter descended into the confined car park, the main rotor disk struck the light fitting and then the pole of a nearby lamppost.

This caused the helicopter to roll to the left and the main rotor hit the ground and disintegrated, while the tail rotor hit a low wall.

The helicopter then burst into flames. The force of the blast blew out a glass wall of the hotel. However, the school was unaffected and students returned there the following morning.

The report said the pilot managed to escape his aircraft unaided.

Two bystanders suffered minor injuries caused by flying debris and were taken to Lourdes hospital in Drogheda, Co Louth, along with the pilot. All three were released from hospital a short time later.

The report added: "Considerable collateral damage occurred when flying debris from the helicopter hit nearby properties and cars."

It noted that emergency fire services responded in a "timely manner" and extinguished the fire.

"The investigation has not identified any technical problem with the helicopter to date," the report said.

A date for the unit's final report on the accident has not yet been set.