THE CHIEF inspector with the air accident investigation unit of the Department of Transport says it hopes to have a preliminary report within 30 days into what caused a Sikorsky helicopter to crash into a school car park.
The unit was at the scene of the crash, just feet away from the main road, in Bettystown, Co Meath, within 30 minutes of it being reported on Thursday afternoon.
The pilot, who sustained only minor injuries, met the investigators yesterday.
The wreckage has been removed to the department's examination facility in nearby Gormanston.
Debris was found up to 300m away, some of it in people's living rooms and on the footpath.
"We want to determine the cause of the crash so that it doesn't happen again," said the chief inspector, Jurgan Whyte. He said there was a cockpit voice recorder on board.
A number of members of the public have provided photographs and camera footage of the incident.
They are also examining CCTV footage from a supermarket directly across the road from the crash scene. The investigation will not apportion blame and it is hoped that a preliminary report will be completed within a month.
The Department of Education provided a psychological councillor to the 80 students of Coláiste na hInse who had only left the school an hour earlier.
The school is temporarily accommodated in the ground floor of the former Neptune hotel.
School principal Anne Marie McCarrick praised its caretaker Brian Emmett, who ran out to the aid of the pilot.
Mr Emmett got a standing ovation when he arrived into school yesterday morning.