R 116 out of Dublin arrived at 10:30 z approx half an hour after the incident. Weather on scence at that time was not good. The first rescue party was dropped off by R 116 approx 30 minutes walk in time from the crash site and wx continued to get worse. Second drop of rescue personel had to be made lower down the mountain. I'm not aware what the weather was doing at the time of the accident.
UTV News - Helicopter crash victims 'lucky to be live'
Members of a police air crew who escaped major injury when their helicopter flipped upside down on landing are lucky to be alive, a senior officer says.The two PSNI officers, a mapper and the pilot were assisting the air accident investigation into the fatal helicopter crash on Saturday at the summit of Shanlieve, Co Down, which claimed the lives of three men returning from a shooting trip.
Assistant Chief Constable Alistair Finlay said: "There aren't many helicopter crashes that people walk out of and this has been one and we're very, very grateful"
The Irish coastguard was part of a huge team of emergency workers who arrived at the scene to try and rescue the four men after the police helicopter overturned as it was landing.
Mr Finlay told UTV: "There were people on the hill immediately able to render assistance. We had equipment on the hill. That has made all the difference. If we had to start from scratch it would have taken sometime to get there"
The accident happened just before 11am on Thursday morning but the atrocious weather conditions in the Mournes meant it took some time to airlift the men, who suffered relatively minor injuries, to hospital.
Emergency and Medical teams and the Fire and Rescue service were also called in to help with this difficult operation.
All the occupants managed to stumble out of the helicopter.
The cause of the accident is being examined by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch of the Department for Transport.
On Saturday, three people were killed when a helicopter crashed into the same mountain side, in an area known locally as Leitrim Lodge, between Hilltown and Rostrevor.
Charles Stisted, Ian Wooldridge and their pilot, who has yet to be named, died in the incident.
They were flying back to England after taking part in a shooting hunt at Baronscourt country estate in Co Tyrone.
Mr Stisted, a friend of the Prince of Wales, and Mr Wooldridge were both members of the exclusive Guards Polo Club at Windsor.
South Down MLA Jim Wells, who was close to the scene at the time of Thursday's crash said that the difficult terrain of the Mournes probably played a part in what happened.
"The community in the area were deeply shocked at the tragic accident which occurred over the weekend and today's incident demonstrates the dangers which can be associated with this mode of transport", he said.
"It would seem that difficult conditions in the Mournes may have played some role in the accident, and this also demonstrates the dedication of all the emergency and rescue services involved in the clear-up operation after the weekend".
SDLP South Down MP Margaret Ritchie said she was greatly relieved that there were no new fatalities.
"The Mournes is a dangerous place for low-level flying and helicopter operations in general and we must be grateful to those who are taking risks in the course of investigations of last week's tragedy in order to protect life and limb in the future", she said.
BBC News - Police helicopter injured airlifted from Mournes