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Accidents happen but under the rules he shouldn't have been flying over the viewing area or close enough for it to be an issue..some bodies career has just come to an abrupt end.
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Covid 19 is not over ....it's still very real..Hand Hygiene, Social Distancing and Masks.. keep safe -
any word on the casualitiesThings fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere***
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity. -
Minor injuries from the 9 o clock news.Comment
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that 9 o clock news was always dangerousOriginally posted by Irish_army01 View PostThings fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere***
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.Comment
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Hedge, after a long day, that was priceless!
If you have to do it, you always have to do it right. Either it makes a difference, or it’s good practice so that when it does make a difference, it gets done right.
-Me.Comment
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I was there myself and was standing in the area the door fell less than a minute before. Myself and Mrs Jetjock had just moved along the beach 40 meters to the west when we stopped to look at the Merlin taking off.He climbed straight up to about 200-300 feet over the park and the crew man opened the door to wave out at the crowd, to which the crowd responded. Good cheer turned to alarm fairly quickly as the helicopter moved forward and the wind caught the door and lifted it off its rails. Imagine the horror to see the door of a Merlin tumbling down towards a packed beach. Not a nice sight when initially it looks like it's coming right at you and you're getting ready to push your better half out of the way. As it happens it landed forty meters away in the area we had been occupying less than a minute previously. Thankfully it didn't hit a child or the outcome would have been almost unthinkable.
The Salthill airshow is a great event and is organised under difficult financial circumstances, relying on contributions from local business in order to survive. However, during the day I was questioning the safety measures that were in place as regards to the flight path of aircraft. All arriving and departing helicopters, not just the one in question took off over a fairly large section of the crowd.I doubt any air-crews career would be in jeopardy as this was standard practice throughout the day.
As regards the flying displays, the crowd line was clearly marked by three orange buoys on the water. While this was observed by most teams the Thunderbirds made several single ship and two formation fly-past directly over the crowd, at the start and the end of the routine. Single aircaft from the "synchro pair" made up to four or five turning low level high speed fly-pasts crossing the beach to fly inland during the display and just to the right of the show centerline which happens to be directly over the most populated area of the beach. This was something I had commented about during the show. Obviously with the unhelpful weather the team reverted to their standard low level reduced ceiling show and I wonder if this had something to do with it as it was something more akin to an American display where crowd lines are not enforced as heavily they are at European air shows. I have visited air shows all over Europe and such flying is not allowed, regardless of the team.
We could hear the Merlin holding with rotors turning waiting to get airborne during the second half of the Thunderbirds display routine. They were obviously time limited and what should have been a light hearted moment with the loadmaster waving to the crowd turned close to a tragedy. Advice for future shows, the park area is unsuitable as a static park unless the approach portion of the beach is closed off and please please enforce the crowd line more rigidly. A door falling off a Merlin in flight I would assume is pretty much a freak of modern engineering but these things tend to happen at the worst possible times, just as it did today. Crowd lines are there due to harsh lessons learned internationally where people lost their lives. The people who came to Salthill today got lucky. Only just.Last edited by Jetjock; 25 June 2007, 01:04.Comment
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From my memory, many helicopters are designed in such a way that the doors can be removed easily. The difference between opening in flight and removing completely is just a number of pins.
Anyone think the pins to hold the door on the rail could have been removed by some light fingered ne'erdo well?
Catch-22 says they have a right to do anything we can't stop them from doing.Comment
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Quite possible Goldie as the heli was open to the public all day.Comment
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Mayhem at the airshow
Irish Independent
25/06/2007
Brian McDonald
TENS of thousands of people watched in horror yesterday as disaster struck at a Galway airshow.
Three people were injured when a door fell off a helicopter and hurtled at speed to the ground shortly after the craft had taken off at the Salthill Airshow.
Both gardai and the Irish Aviation Authority launched separate investigations last night as the injured, a Polish man and two Irish women were being treated at University College Hospital in Galway.
The British Army helicopter had just become airborne towards the end of the show - the biggest free air spectacular in Europe - attended by a crowd estimated at 80,000.
The helicopter was about 150 feet above the cheering crowd lined along Salthill promenade and on the beach below when disaster struck. As the door hurtled earthwards, the terrified crowd had virtually no time to react and the door hit a number of people.
Gardai and a Civil Defence team rushed to the injured and two ambulances were also on the scene within minutes.
The three people who were injured were treated on the beach, apparently suffering from back and neck injuries as well as shock. All three were removed to hospital where their condition was last night described as stable.
The helicopter immediately returned to the scene and the crew was helping gardai with their inquiries last night.
The scene was being preserved for a full examination by a Garda technical team.
A spokesman at Salthill Garda station confirmed that a Garda investigation was under way into all the circumstances of the accident.
"Fortunately, all the emergency services were at hand and could respond immediately", the spokesman said.
The helicopter was later removed to Galway Airport at Carnmore where it was expected to undergo a full technical examination.
A separate investigation is to be carried out by the Irish Aviation Authority. The helicopter had spent the day parked on the ground at Salthill Park alongside other aircraft which were on public display as part of the big Salthill show.
Minutes before the accident, the crack US Air Force aerobatics team, Thunderbirds had thrilled the crowd with a spectacular display of formation flying.
Crowds estimated at 70,000 to 80,000 lined the coast from Galway city to Spiddal to view the three-hour display involving some of the world's leading pilots.
Organisers had been expecting a repeat of last year's turnout of 100,000, but an unsettled weather forecast was borne out when heavy showers interrupted the afternoon's entertainment and sent families scrambling for cover.
But in between the spills of rain there was no shortage of thrills by some of the world's most renowned high-speed aircraft.
On the ground, the crowds were allowed get up close and personal with a British Royal Navy Sea King helicopter, a Royal Netherlands Air Force AB412 and a range of Irish army weaponry and machinery.
In Galway Bay a flotilla of craft, including a naval corvette, provided the backdrop for the air spectacular.
But the ear-splitting arrival of the Thunderbirds in their F16 fighter jets, making their first Irish appearance, provided the undoubted highlight at the finale of the show.
US Ambassador, Thomas C Foley had hosted a thronged reception for the Thunderbirds commemorating the 60th anniversary of the US Air Force, in Salthill at the weekend.
Such was the demand for invitations to the event that the US Embassy had to change the venue to a larger space.
The event had been picketed by anti-war protesters who held a vigil outside the venue which was followed up with two further vigils outside Galway Cathedral and Salthill parish church over the weekend.
The opposition to the air show culminated in the release of 99 red balloons at a peace rally organised by the Galway Alliance Against War just hours before the big show.
Last year, gardai refused to allow the balloons to be released and burst all of them, but this time the Garda presence was far more discreet.
A crowd of about 200, including the new Mayor of Galway, Cllr Tom Costello and four other members of the City Council attended the protest event.
Organiser Niall Farrell said that the 99 balloons had to be blown up in secret and distributed in secret because of fear that the gardai would again burst them. But the air show was strongly defended by Deputy Mayor, Cllr Padraic Conneely.
Speaking at the air show later, Cllr Conneely said it was one of the biggest free festivals in the country.
"Great credit is due to the organisers for bringing in such professional aviation performers as the Thunderbirds and giving people the opportunity to see them display their skill."
Photo on front of Indo showing women on stretcher, photo on front of Irish Times showing door as it hits the ground.Comment
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Hope not, I was chatting to the pilot and he was a really nice guy. Gave kids and disabled people full access to the Helo and some even got to sit in the pilots seat.Originally posted by hptmurphy View Post
As for protesters - Didn't see even one. The thunderbirds ground crew were cordoned off but soon began interacting with the crowd. The attendent Gardai looked a bit nervous initially as anything could have happened if a protester had tried anything. Eventually the show went off without a hitch and the groundcrew even started mixing with the crowd.Comment
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SOPs for the RN and RAF..courts martial if you bump something.As has been pointed out, by Jet Jock in his comprehensive post , in detail and with the relavent concern..aircraft on the day did operate diplays or part of over the crowd line.
This is a cardinal sin in Display flying.
I hope that the pilot involved is not roasted but given that he is ultimately responsible for the aircraft, the people in it and the routine carried out..lets just say his career may now culminate to use a phrase.."flying rubber dog shit out of Hong Kong!"
As I see it organising such a major event with very fluid crowds unlike those at a given airfield is almost impossible and maybe the saving factor for the pilot as he could not be ultimately responsible for the dispositioning of the crowd.
the other worrying factor is allowing the general public acess to a machine that is used in a display...rule of thumb in the past that the displaying aircraft were for viewing from behind barriers and secondary machines were used for public display.
I wasn't there..I don't know the exact ins and outs of the entire situation, I'm only working from memory when I attended other airshow's and from when we held an airshow at Waterford and the constrictions placed upon such events.
In saying all that..it could have been far worse and I hope it won't affect future displays.Last edited by hptmurphy; 25 June 2007, 22:05.Covid 19 is not over ....it's still very real..Hand Hygiene, Social Distancing and Masks.. keep safeComment
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drop it on purpose ?Comment
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I went into an Italian restaurant and ordered dessert and they gave me tiramisu and a blindfolded horse and I said No, I said mask a pony (mascarpone)Comment
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This one is a better view, you can actually see one person getting hit, would appear that only one person was hit by the door.Originally posted by Liachta Cultaca View Post
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