A preliminary report into the crash of an Air Corps plane in Connemara last month in which a flight instructor and his trainee pilot were killed has found the aircraft hit the ground at high speed at a time of “rapidly changing cloud height and visibility”.
The two-seater training plane, which had been on training exercise from Casement Aerodrome, Baldonnel, in Co Dublin to Galway Airport, crashed on a remote hillside in Crumlin East, Cornamona, Co Galway on October 12th.
Captain Derek Furniss (32) and Cadet David Jevens (22), who were manning the single engine Pilatus PC-9M aircraft, were killed in the crash
The Air Accident Investigation Unit’s preliminary report into the incident, published today, said no technical defects were identified with the plane.
Investigators said the plane was travelling in a northwesterly direction when it hit the crest of a ridge in the Crumlin valley and was destroyed on impact.
The tandem-seated aircraft, with Cadet Jevens in the front and Captain Furniss in the rear, had been tasked to conduct a “navigational cross-country training exercise” from Baldonnel to Galway Airport, via Carrigallen in Co Cavan and Maum in Co Galway.
The plane left Baldonnel at 4.20pm, followed by two other PC-9M aircraft on the same exercise, at intervals of 15 minutes.
The aircraft reported to Shannon Air Traffic Control at 4.39pm that it was over Carrigallen flying at 1,500 feet and setting course for Maum.
It was last recorded by the Shannon radar over Lower Lough Mask at 4.55pm flying at an altitude of 1,300 feet, and still on course to Maum.
The AAIU was informed by the fire station officer in Castlebar, Co Mayo at 5.10pm of a report made by a resident of the Crumlin Valley that she had heard an aircraft crash nearby.
A search by several local residents a short time later located the wreckage of the aircraft and its occupants on the northern slopes of the Crumlin Valley, some 800 feet above sea level.
The gardaí and emergency services were directed to the crash site, which was then secured, the AAIU's report said.
The plane was fitted with ejector seats triggered by explosives which had not been activated by the crew before the crash.
The debris trail was distributed along a 300-foot slope, which the report said “was characteristic of a high-speed impact”.
Witnesses in the valley, who were interviewed by the AAIU’s investigation team, said they reported seeing the aircraft travelling east down the valley, before “making a steep turn to the north and then climbing”.
They also reported “rapidly changing cloud height and visibility” in the area at that time of the crash.
Preliminary analysis of the combined cockpit voice and flight data recorder indicated the crew were attempting to navigate to their next planned reporting point at Maum at the time of the crash.
A final report on the crash is to be published by the AAIU in the coming months.
