SYNOPSIS

While seeking to find a thermal in the vicinity of Mt. Leinster, the paraglider spiralled down from a low level and impacted terrain heavily. The paraglider Pilot sustained serious spinal injuries.

Synopsis

Conditions were blustery and during touchdown the aircraft rolled to the left and pitched nose down.  The left engine nacelle scraped the runway surface.  Damage was minor.  There were no injuries and the crew did not realise that the nacelle had contacted the runway.

SYNOPSIS

An Operations vehicle (Police 1) was stopped on Runway (RWY) 17 at EICK, holding short of the intersecting runway, while a light aircraft conducting local training carried out a touch and go.  At 09.21 hrs a commercial transport flight, (Boeing 737) was cleared for take-off on RWY 17.  On becoming aware that the B737 was accelerating for take-off, the driver of Police 1 vacated right onto RWY 25 at the intersection.  During the take-off roll, as the aircraft approached 90 knots, the Commander noticed the vehicle vacating onto the intersecting runway.  With the vehicle clear, the take-off was continued.  It was estimated that the aircraft and vehicle were approximately 700 m apart prior to the resolution of the conflict.

Synopsis

The main rotor blades struck disused electricity cables, just after the helicopter had lifted off from an elevated crest in mountainous terrain.  The Pilot made an immediate controlled landing.  No damage, other than to the main rotor blades, was sustained by the helicopter.  The two occupants were uninjured.

SYNOPSIS

The aircraft took-off from Ireland West Airport Knock (EIKN) with two persons on board.  Shortly afterwards the Pilot reported engine problems to Air Traffic Control (ATC) and attempted to return to EIKN. Following power loss the engine subsequently failed.  A forced landing was attempted in difficult terrain and resulted in the aircraft impacting the ground in a steep nose down attitude.  The Pilot was fatally injured and the passenger was seriously injured. 

The engine failure was caused by a fatigue fracture of cylinder No. 2 inlet[1] valve head, a segment of which transferred to and contaminated cylinder No. 4.  This, combined with a resulting disturbed inlet manifold airflow, caused the engine to fail. Metallurgical testing determined that the initiating cause of the fatigue fracture in the No. 2 inlet valve head was overheating, but the cause of this could not be not conclusively determined.

SYNOPSIS

On take-off from EIKN the aircraft encountered a flock of lapwings and sustained multiple bird strikes. Both engines were damaged, with bending and distortion of a number of the fan blades of No. 1 engine and the loss of a portion of the acoustic panel from No. 2 engine. The aircraft diverted to Shannon Airport (EINN) where it landed without further incident. No bird patrol had been carried out by Airport staff at EIKN for a period of approximately two and a half hours prior to the aircraft’s departure.

Synopsis

The Pilot started up the rotor with the main rotor cover still in situ. As a result, the pitch change rods were damaged and this caused a main rotor blade to strike the tail-boom, puncturing it.  The Report makes one Safety Recommendation.

SYNOPSIS

The privately owned helicopter was on a local flight with two persons on board. On returning to its landing site, as the Pilot attempted to bring the helicopter into a hover just above the site, it dropped suddenly, struck the ground, bounced back into the air, rolled left and yawed rapidly to the right. The two occupants were not injured but the helicopter was substantially damaged. There was no fire. The wind conditions at the time were blustery and changeable and heavy rain commenced almost immediately after the accident.