Westmeath Helicopter Crash Occurred During Training Manoeuvre, Says Initial Report

The crash claimed the lives of two people last month.

A Westmeath helicopter crash which killed two people appears to have occurred after a training manoeuvre.

The Air Accident Investigation Unit has published a preliminary report on the collision near Killucan last month, which claimed the lives of Niall Crosby and Antonin Kabelka.

The report states the accident appears to have occurred during a sixth autorotation manoeuvre during a training flight.

The move is used as a technique for trainee pilots in how to respond to an engine failure.

A student, who had completed over 100 hours of flight training, and an instructor were the only two passengers on-board the helicopter and were killed in the collision on July 30th.

The report found no witnesses had seen final moments of the helicopter’s flight, but some did recall seeing it descending rapidly as if to land before climbing away again.

The preliminary 11-page report doesn’t contain any analysis of conclusions and a final report will be published in due course.

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