The family of one of the Air Corps men killed in a helicopter crash in Tramore has called for urgent steps to ensure a similar accident does not happen again.
An inquest in Waterford into the deaths of the four men concluded yesterday, finding that all had died of multiple severe traumatic injuries.
Capt Dave O'Flaherty (30), of Tullamore, Co Offaly; Capt Mick Baker (28), Enniscorthy, Co Wexford; Sgt Paddy Mooney (34), Stamullen, Co Meath; and Cpl Niall Byrne (24), Killiney, Co Dublin, died instantly when their Dauphin helicopter struck a sand dune at Tramore Burrow on July 2nd last year.
They were returning from a mission off the south-east coast but had been unable to land in dense fog at their base at Waterford Regional Airport.
After the inquest the family of Capt Baker issued a statement in which they accepted the verdict and acknowledged that it was not the function of the inquest to determine culpability.
But they were "firmly of the view" that in the light of the recently-published official report on the accident, the question of culpability and the taking of steps to avoid a repeat were matters which should be urgently addressed.
"While we accept that the resolution of these matters will not bring Mick back, it is essential that they are fully addressed in the interest of helping our family cope with our loss and in the public interest," the statement said. "We now intend to direct all our efforts to progressing these matters, the resolution of which we believe will provide some basic comfort to us as a family."
The acting coroner for east Waterford, Dr Eoin Maughan, had earlier said that, having read the official report published by the Department of Public Enterprise, he was satisfied it had no bearing on the matters to be addressed by the inquest.
The jury was then given a summary of evidence taken when the inquest opened in July last year. On that occasion, Garda Simon Murphy recalled how he arrived at the scene of the crash on the sand dunes near Tramore beach at 4 a.m.
The wreckage of the helicopter was still burning, and parts were thrown across a wide area. Fog at the time was thick and visibility was down to 10 to 15 yards, he said.
Dr Joseph O'Connor, who carried out post-mortems on the bodies, found that all had died of multiple severe traumatic injuries with subsequent conflagration, consistent with having been in a helicopter crash. The jury returned a verdict in accordance with the medical evidence.
Extending sympathies to relatives of the four men who attended the inquest, Dr Maughan said they were brave men who did not think twice about going out in terrible weather conditions to help those lost at sea.
