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Shift the blame onto some nameless airman. Couldn't have been a minister who was in any case abusing ministerial privilages while the rest of the country struggled to pay the rent/mortgage. No way. Methinks someone had a Dougal big red button moment.
Your Peoples Republic of Cork phraseology sums it up better than any prose I could hope to muster.
the investigation was into the door opening
not that idiiot of a minister getting a helicopter to take him to a hoteliers conference
the crew are responsible for the air craft not the passangers
hard as it is to accept - sometimes our own are at fault
the minister should have been found responsible for being an ass hole and wasting money
Things 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.
"Well, stone me! We've had cocaine, bribery and Arsenal scoring two goals at home. But just when you thought there were truly no surprises left in football, Vinnie Jones turns out to be an international player!" (Jimmy Greaves)!"
it takes a determined and a concerted effort to open them
I do agree MC is an idiot and the crew should have taken the initiative and fecked him out
Things 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.
Ultimately when humans are involved mistakes will happen, of course. We are the one component of the system prone to the most mistakes and oversights. It's probably happened many times before, but the fact that there was a minister on board brought it into the public domain. The same could be said of the RAF Merlin at Salthill.
All Im saying is that when no one will admit to pushing the "big red button", it is easy to, and sometimes convienient to shift blame onto someone nameless who technically could be held responsible for not ensuring the security of the aircraft, and who under the OSA is precluded from speaking publicly about it. As Canner said, slap on the wrist and move on-someone was held accountable. The headline "Minister/Minister's Secretary Breaks Chopper" doesn't make for pretty reading.
Then again I'm just speculating in a taking one for the team/not biting the hand that feeds you kind of way.
I may well be a mile off target, but I think painting the heli's green has proven to be a PR master stroke by the Air Corps.
It has made it plainly obvious to any ordinary person that these are military machines, for military purposes - they are not taxi's for Ministers - and that added to the even more significant issue of our faltering economy has made images of TD's swanning around in them utterly unacceptable.
Perhaps they should keep the Squirrel, remove the useful crime fighting bits, and give it a new lick of paint. It was good enough for the Royal Flight
even my wife asked why is the Government fying in Military helicopters
where before she didnt even know there was Military Helicopters.
I think your assumption is spot on
Things 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.
I may well be a mile off target, but I think painting the heli's green has proven to be a PR master stroke by the Air Corps.
It has made it plainly obvious to any ordinary person that these are military machines, for military purposes - they are not taxi's for Ministers - and that added to the even more significant issue of our faltering economy has made images of TD's swanning around in them utterly unacceptable.
Perhaps they should keep the Squirrel, remove the useful crime fighting bits, and give it a new lick of paint. It was good enough for the Royal Flight
The current change in attitude has nothing to do with 'Green' helicopters but is completely down to a failing economy and nasty PR caused by a perception of money wasting.
Even in the land of big business many folk have sold their helicopters, not because of lack of money but because of peer pressure. i.e if your coming to a meeting with me dont be seen in a helicopter.
Have a look at the next big race meeting, where are the helicopters? Outside the stand for all to see or removed and inconspicuous?
The polititions dont give a crap what colour the helicopter is, to think so is just disillousions and fantasy.
The polititions dont give a crap what colour the helicopter is, to think so is just disillousions and fantasy.
I dont agree. Parading around in something green and purposeful looking makes it look like they are taking an asset away from it's true tasking, whereas something white and dayglo could be assumed to be a dedicated VIP transport by Mr/Mrs Joe/Josephine Soap.
I think Pym has a valid point. The attitude in this country has changed. We actually give a damn about what the government does with our money now.
I think Pym has a valid point. The attitude in this country has changed. We actually give a damn about what the government does with our money now.
Thank you for making my point. Its all about money. Ministers arriving by helicopter to a factory where people are about to be made unemployed is now seen as unacceptable, regardless of the aircrafts colour. The people dont give a damn about an 'asset', most dont even give a damn if the DF exsisted or not.
Pilot error has been blamed for a mid-air accident in which a door fell off an Air Corps' helicopter that was transporting a Government minister.
An inquiry into how the door blew off the chopper carrying Tourism Minister Martin Cullen concluded the two pilots should have spotted the problem before take-off.
Investigators said that neither the captain nor his co-pilot had scanned a display unit that would have warned them of the danger.
This meant they failed to notice that the cabin door was not sealed properly prior to take-off from Killarney racecourse, on March 2. Shortly afterwards, the door of the Agusta Westland 139 helicopter came loose.
Nobody on the ground was injured and the helicopter landed safely at the Killarney Golf and Fishing Club.
The aircraft was about 500ft over the Killarney national park and travelling at 126 knots when the door became dislodged.
The report notes that the AW 139 was on a VIP trip at the time. It had left Baldonnel with two passengers and made a stop in Waterford, where a third passenger came on board. In Killarney, the passengers disembarked for a meeting, while the crew refuelled and waited for their return.
It was as the aircraft made a mid-air turn on the return journey that the sliding door opened and broke away.
The crewman said he had been confident that the door was closed and locked.
The pilot told investigators that he had been informed by a colleague that the right-hand door had been closed. He said he did not recollect scanning the crew alert system to confirm the doors were secure.
Flight data analysis found that one or both cabin doors were open at all times during the incident. The system on the AW 139 does not differentiate between left and right doors.
The inquiry concluded that the door could not have been fully closed prior to the locking handle being engaged, and the captain and co-pilot had failed to check the warning system.
It has been recommended crew procedures be revised to include prompt confirmation that all doors are closed.
The conclusions also suggest that warning systems should be updated to indicate which cabin doors are open.
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