The Air Accident Investigation Unit of the Department of Transport has confirmed that it is aware of an incident involving an Irish Coast Guard helicopter in Cork last month and is engaging with the relevant stakeholders to establish the circumstances.
The Shannon-based search and rescue helicopter was forced to divert and make a priority landing at Cork Airport on Thursday October 23rd after experiencing a technical issue while on approach to land at Cork University Hospital (CUH) with a patient on board.
Rescue 115 had departed Shannon shortly before 6.00pm on the evening having been tasked to an incident in the Glenbeigh area of Co Kerry along with the Iveragh unit of the Irish Coast Guard.
After leaving the scene with a casualty, the helicopter crew advised air traffic controllers at Shannon that they were routing to CUH. The crew was later handed over to controllers at Cork Airport.
Shortly before the helicopter was due to land at CUH, the crew issued a Pan-pan radio call which, although not as serious as a May-day, still indicates an urgent situation on board.
The crew advised controllers while they were overhead CUH that they wished to ‘route direct to Cork Airport to land immediately.’ The helicopter had descended to around 700 feet before climbing again and diverting to Cork Airport just a few minutes away.
The helicopter landed safely just after 7.00pm. It’s understood that the crew reported they had experienced a ‘low rotor’ issue and that they had ‘to make a recovery to regain our power.’
A spokesperson for the Department of Transport confirmed at the time: “On 23rd October, the Irish Coast Guard Search and Rescue helicopter conducted a priority landing at Cork Airport after crews reported a technical issue.
Safety is the overarching priority and crews requested priority landing as a standard procedure. The aircraft landed safely and without incident.
The interoperability of four SAR bases ensured that there was no interruption to services. Services at Shannon are being provided by a spare helicopter deployed from the Dublin (Weston) Coast Guard base.”
Bristow Ireland engineers were dispatched from Shannon Airport to Cork to investigate the issue with the helicopter. The incident helicopter remained grounded at Cork Airport for six days before it was flown to Weston Airport in Dublin to undergo maintenance.
A spokesperson for the Air Accident Investigation Unit has confirmed: “The AAIU is aware of the occurrence and is engaging with the relevant stakeholders to establish the circumstances of the occurrence and the sequence of events. The AAIU is precluded from commenting any further on the details of any specific event.”
Bristow Ireland Limited was also contacted for a comment at the time.