Door fell off Merlin at Salthill Airshow, 3 injured.
I don't own this space under my name. I should have leased it while I still could
It couldn't have been a Merlin. It was an Army helicopter 'cause the BBC said so this evening and the BBC is always right.
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Cos nothing's ever fallen off a Chinook at a public air show. That main gear was a figment of Abingdon's imagination.....
One hell of an imagination too..... one could say almost photographic, thanks to Fantaman that is!
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Aye it was an Army one, just like all those Army Wessex, Puma and Chinook helicopters that flew in and out of R850 in the bad old days.
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Spangles Kaplinsky yesterday said it was an army helicopter, hovering over the crowd in Galoway 
so lots of accurate reporting there .
I was about twenty five yards from where it landed and was taking photos as it flew over ,looking at the pics the door appears sealed in the first couple and in the last the bottom can be seen to be seperating from the frame ,this is when I stopped shooting.Very lucky that it came down like a leaf and the guy it hit took the force across his back.
so lots of accurate reporting there .I was about twenty five yards from where it landed and was taking photos as it flew over ,looking at the pics the door appears sealed in the first couple and in the last the bottom can be seen to be seperating from the frame ,this is when I stopped shooting.Very lucky that it came down like a leaf and the guy it hit took the force across his back.
Red On, Green On
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Don't forget that there's two Armies - the Royal Army (like the Royal Navy, Royal Marines and Royal Air Force), and the ordinary Army (sometimes called the Regular Army). Perhaps that's where the confusion lies 
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Lucky man, I know those doors aren't the heaviest of items, but they could still do some damage.
I know of an emergency window exit being lost from a 101 (the one forward of the sliding door), was a navy variant, and decided to leave the aircraft somewhere over Somerset. Never did find it, some farmer probably has the worlds most expensive shed window now. Gave the guy sitting in the instructors seat a shock as the window next to him left the aircraft.
I know of an emergency window exit being lost from a 101 (the one forward of the sliding door), was a navy variant, and decided to leave the aircraft somewhere over Somerset. Never did find it, some farmer probably has the worlds most expensive shed window now. Gave the guy sitting in the instructors seat a shock as the window next to him left the aircraft.
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Initial AAIU report suggests a member of the public may have tampered with the helicopter.
http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0628/galway.html
Digital video and camera evidence confirmed that the emergency egress door-locking handle was in the unlocked position as the helicopter commenced its lift-off.
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This was my initial thought too.
Seeing a video of the Merlin being clambered all over by the Public, someone might have had a fiddle and thus causing it to come detached.
If the report is right then surely this will now have a rule come into affect...
Seeing a video of the Merlin being clambered all over by the Public, someone might have had a fiddle and thus causing it to come detached.
If the report is right then surely this will now have a rule come into affect...
Red On, Green On
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You would hope that the crew would do an even more thorough pre-flight walk-around after allowing the great-unwashed to touch the cab.