Sir, - It was with horror and sadness that I heard of the fatal crash of the Air Corps Dauphin helicopter in the early hours of last Friday morning. The Air Corps helicopter crews have worked for many years with mountain rescue teams throughout the country, conducting searches for countless hours and ferrying casualties to hospital. They are not only experienced and professional, but also friendly, helpful and obliging to casualties and team members alike. To have four of these men die when returning from a rescue incident is a shocking and terrible loss to their families and friends and to the Air Corps.
The Air Corps search and rescue is a service so appreciated by mountain and coastal rescue teams and this tragedy exposes the risk involved in the rescue services which we take largely for granted. On behalf of the Irish Mountain Rescue Association, and on behalf of the many individuals rescued in the past from mountainsides and cliffs, I would like to extend my sincere sympathy to the families of Capt Mick Baker, Capt Dave O'Flaherty, Sgt Paddy Mooney and Cpl Niall Byrne. - Yours, etc.,
Miriam Crowley, PRO, Irish Mountain Rescue Association, Rathdrum, Co. Wicklow.