The families of two of the four air crew killed in the Tramore Dauphin helicopter crash are writing to the Minister for Defence, Mr Smith, requesting that he admit liability for their sons' deaths.
The families of Sgt Paddy Mooney and Cpl Niall Byrne are also seeking a public inquiry into the accident in the light of the Minister's admission of liability earlier this month for the death of the flight commander, Capt Dave O'Flaherty.
They have also expressed concern about continuing safety issues in the Air Corps.
Cases taken by both families were settled out of court, with the State refusing to take responsibility for the crash on July 2nd, 1999.
This was successfully challenged in the High Court case taken by Ms Maria O'Flaherty, Capt O'Flaherty's widow, when admission of liability was made for the first time, and compensation of €1.1 million was awarded earlier this month.
The case of the fourth crew member, co-pilot Capt Mick Baker, is still pending.
Ms Monica Mooney, widow of Sgt Mooney, and Mr Vincent Byrne, father of Cpl Byrne, told The Irish Times yesterday that they were not seeking to reopen their compensation claims, which have already been settled.
"The money is not the issue here," Mr Byrne said. "The priority for us is that the State takes responsibility for this and gives us the apology that we are seeking."
The two families, who also have the support of Ms O'Flaherty in their demands, said there were still many unanswered questions in the wake of the investigation. These included the fact that the General Officer Commanding the Air Corps had advised in a written memo against initiating the 24-hour rescue base at Waterford on July 1st, 1999.
An aborted rescue mission in March 1997 from Carrickfin airport, Co Donegal, had also raised safety issues which, if implemented, might have avoided the accident in Tramore, they said.
However, a request for a copy of the report into this mission under the Freedom of Information Act was turned down.
Mr Byrne and Ms Mooney said that there were still problems with safety standards in the Air Corps more than four years after the accident.
Mr Byrne also said it was very hard to understand why, after more than four years, the four men had not been given appropriate military honours for their efforts.
The official investigation by the Air Accident Investigation Unit into the Tramore crash identified two active causes, six contributory causes and nine systemic causes and highlighted "serious deficiencies" in support for the four crew.
The crew had only learned on July 1st - the day the base was converted to 24-hour cover - that no after-hours air traffic control was to be provided, as a service-level agreement had not been concluded between the Department of Defence and Waterford airport.
