Helicopter Crash In Bettystown Ireland
 

Just got word of helicopter crashed in Bettystown a few mins ago. Anyone hear anything?

Its just on news now
 

Helicopter crashes in Co Meath

Thursday, 18 September 2008 17:19
A helicopter has crashed in Bettystown in Co Meath.
The aircraft crashed beside a community school, which was formerly the Neptune Hotel.
The aircraft came down inside the entrance of Neptune Terrace, which is a row of houses facing Bettystown Beach.


The helicopter caught fire after it crashed but the emergency services have since extinguished the fire.
It is not yet known how many people were on board or if there are any survivors.
There is wreckage on the main street of the town.


Got that from RTE news

Just seen it on the news.. They say no one was seriousily injured..

A mate of mine tells me it's a 109 (a hunch, it has retractable gears).. more on this later

A helicopter has crashed in Bettystown, County Meath.

It is thought the pilot was the only person on board at the time of the crash at about 1700 BST.

An eyewitness who saw him walk away unscathed said he was "an incredibly lucky man". He had just left passengers off on the beach of the seaside town.

The helicopter made it to about 70ft in the air before crashing beside the Neptune Hotel, currently being used as a temporary secondary school.

It caught fire upon impact, but firefighters have since extinguished the blaze.

One person was taken to hospital in nearby Drogheda.

Bettystown Crash
 

Hi all.

The heli was a sikorsky 76, that's confirmed, from the dublin area.

No one was killed, 3 on board, all should be ok!

The heli was N399BM.

google is telling me that registration is a twin turboprop. Check out FlightAware > Pilot Resources > Aircraft Registration > N399BM

Friends have received txt from Pilot who is safe and well. TG

Thankfully nobody was injured. I heard debris is scattered all over town, what actually happened?

S-76 N399bh
 

N399BM is a Kingair but possibly the helicopter involved is/was N399BH?


http://www.aso.com/aircraft/113080/ext-3.jpg

Thankfully no-one was seriously injured.

500 Fan.

passed by earlier.. about 6pm. this was the scene

http://i497.photobucket.com/albums/r...l/18092008.jpg

amazed pilot walked away.. fair play

One POB only.

Lunar

Helicopter crash Bettystown
 

Witnessed crash. Pilot had landed on the beach to let some passengers off then proceded to take off but for some reason moved a few yards over to car park adjacent to the old hotel which is now used as a secondary school. He hovered about ten feet off the ground for a short time and proceeded to land on a short wall about six feet off the ground, flipped over and was torn apart from impact. Pilot managed to escape. Place was a mess with debris. Some locals hit by flying parts but nothing serious. Spoke to police, other witnesses and crash investigator. Heard different reports but it might look like pilot error in this case. Didn't look like engine failure to me. More like controlled flight. In any case it's a miracle noone was killed or injured.

Interesting, thankfully everyone survived.

From the BEEB:

BBC NEWS | Northern Ireland | Helicopter crashes near school

http://www.pprune.org/rotorheads/292...ml#post3544044

heli crash
 

The heli was an S76 , after letting off passengers the aircraft had an engine failure/fire and made an emergency landing , burst into flames seconds after, no passengers onboard, pilot only minor cuts and bruises. was not pilot error, did very well to avoid street and people on it.!!!!

RTE News link:

Web report: RTÉ News: Helicopter crashes in Co Meath

Video: RTÉ.ie Media Player: Nine News 18 September 2008

The 9pm News report above has video footage of the accident site and interviews with one of the passengers who'd just been dropped off and witnesses on the ground, one of whom had a very lucky escape from shrapnel penetrating into his apartment across the road.

Very lucky that no one has suffered more than scratches and shock.
Expensive though.

Couldn’t have landed on the beach
 

In Ireland you need permission from the Dept of the Marine before you can land on a beach.
Yet to hear of permission being handed out.
It being such a big issue with the IAA (getting prior permission)
Surely the pilot didn’t land on the beach?

Thankfully Pilot OK well done to him, apparently he was not intending to land where he did even though that is where he had permission to land but as already said possible engine failure/fire so a little busy and all at less than 200 feet.

I guess there are more private helicopters in Ireland than AOC aircraft, mind you ask Irish helis the same questions I think they have had their fair share of incidents in the last few years. maybe engage your brain next time.
Max

Permission or not ?
 

Sorry Maxvne

“Apparently he was not intending to land where he did even though that is where he had permission to land “
You might explain that one!


Its simple he had permission or he didn’t?

The eyewitness statement (when verified) for Tim1

“Witnessed crash. Pilot had landed on the beach to let some passengers off then proceeded to take”

I am referring to the first landing and dropping of passengers and if permission had been granted to land at the beach.

I am not referring to the subsequent takeoff/ repositioning.

All of that aside it must be said the guy was very luckily.
It could have been a lot worse for himself and bystanders and I suppose we should be thankful that there weren’t any serious injuries.

What has that got to do with this conversation? Unless the engines ingested sand or something on the beach that caused it to have the engine failure, then that question is irrelevant.

I am glad to hear nonbody was badly hurt (very lucky indeed) but it looks to be a very small area to be landing in, with OEI.:confused:

S76 will only 1 POB + Congested area - Class 1 performance??

If it had class 1 performance why the accident after a single engine failure??

If it didnt why the departure over a town??

Sorry OEI I didnt explain that sentence at all, my grammer was terrible.
He had permission apparently, had a look at the spot and making an approach decided it was too confined then the incident happened fire/failure apparently so now decided he was committed to landing.
A women decided to stand in the car park looking up at him hence in the hover for a little while, and panicking a little at this stage he could feel the heat surging through the cabin and then lights out smoke filled cockpit very fast and couldnt get door open(typical S76 doors) broke out through the side window and the rest is a bonfire.

Hidley- S76B with Pilot only - no problem Class 1
choice of landing area not very good but from a friend of the pilots he says it all happened as he made the decision to abort the landing as the site was too confined, but he had gone through LDP so decided he was committed, my own opinion he possibly got a little confused as to OEI LDP and committial in the event of an emergency as is a common problem with pilots, given the workload it is very hard to judge, just possibly bad luck so pat the guy on the back he is after all a fellow heli pilot and has walked away and nobody else seriously injured.

RTE have a still picture of the heli (landing/taking off) apparently moments before the accident.Regardless of what went before, Bettystown beach is big and long.

Why depart over a built up area? Was it necessary? Could this incident have been avoided by a different departure route with speculated engine failure resulting in forced landing to the beach? Doesn't look from the wreckage there was a lot of speed involved at final impact(thankfully).

I know hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Glad all ok.

Max,
Just to get better idea of the situation.
Was this his first approach to the area or had he previously landed on the beach as said earlier?
If the later was he then repositioning to the carpark and if so was it a full circuit with helipad approach or a quick hop scotch?
Ive done both and been lucky enough not to have an incident on the approach but always regretted the later afterwards.
Gladly everybody is OK

On another note, will this be the first N reg incident in Ireland since the rule changes allowing the IAA full oversight.

Hi Hiduly,
Yes I understand he had landed on the beach, he was repositioning to the landing and completed a wide circuit to have a look at the site, first time and all that at a new location, decided to make an approach didnt like it when he was getting closer but then I have been told all attention was on number one engine, I dont know why he didnt try fly away OEI and deal with the problem and select another suitable landing site as it must be surrounded by either the beach obvious choice or plenty of fields. I didnt talk with the pilot just sent him my best wishes.
Im not familar with the new rules for N reg that you refer too, Im interested to know and learn though.

There's a nice picture of the heli on the RTE news web page, landing on the beach yesterday.MAXVNE, are you an ex North sea Puma pilot and now part of the management team for this heli? Just wondering. There are two investigations going on at the mo,both the AAIU and local police.

Written permission is required from the local county council and not the department of marine!!

On another note, will this be the first N reg incident in Ireland since the rule changes allowing the IAA full oversight.


says previous....I am very glad on this. It appears from the postings there was a massive internal explosion in the engine/gearbox?

From another thread that's just been shifted to Rotorheads (thanks Danny!) there is a link to the Independent: a couple of their photos:

http://www.independent.ie/multimedia...er_204332b.jpg





http://www.independent.ie/multimedia...r1_204336b.jpg

An extract from the independent:

"Businessman Seamus Belton got out of the chopper just moments before the accident happened.

"We were picking up another businessman, Denis Reddan, and we were going to a business meeting in Dublin," he said.

"The pilot didn't realise we were going to Dublin so we decided to have the meeting here instead. We got out on the beach and he decided he'd bring the helicopter up to the front car park. We were going in the front doors of those apartments; it hit that roof and it hit the lamps as well. It was miraculous how the pilot got out of it.

"We were in there and the blades crashed through the glass of the apartment. He landed sideways. How he got out is a miracle."

The helicopter picked up Mr Belton in Dundalk and he was due to go to a business meeting in Inchicore with the helicopter's owner, Paddy Byrne.

"The pilot realised there were flight restrictions around Dublin in the evening, and he had no flight plan, so we decided we'd get out of the helicopter," said Mr Belton.

Exploded

The businessman speculated that engine failure had led to the crash, while others claimed an oxygen tank on board had exploded. The force of the various blasts blew out a glass wall of the hotel and nearby windows. Parts of the helicopter, including the rotor blades, flew across the street and broke through apartment and shop windows.

The burnt-out shell of the chopper was still on scene last night as gardai preserved the scene. Jurgen Whyte of the air accident investigation unit was on the scene last night, but said that it was to early to determine the cause of the crash.

Local resident John Shepard was walking to the shop with his two children when he saw the pilot trying to land.

"He was trying to land but kept hitting the lamp posts in the car park. He clipped one of them and broke a propeller, and that was that. It tipped onto the ground on its side," he said.

More fuel for the speculators.

FNW

You say it's the local county council, that would be correct if they owned it, if not, they would simply need the permission of the land owner..

I know this heli was owned by Barrack Homes, but anyone know where she's based or who maintains her?

Glad no-one was hurt!

The Department of the Marine and Natural Resources. Section 81(1) of the Local Government (Ireland) Act of 1898 states that it is the duty of every county and district council according to their respective powers, to keep all public roads maintainable at the cost of their county or district in good condition and repair, and to take all steps necessary for that purpose.

Normally land above the line of ordinary high water mark is within the administrative area of the appropriate County Council; while the foreshore itself is within the administrative area of the Dept of the Marine.


So while the local council might be administrating local works etc. As a general rule in Ireland the foreshore belongs to the State and itscontrol is vested in the Department of Marine and Natural Resources , which has the power to grant Foreshore Licenses and Leases etc.

So while the county Council might administrator various aspects the land remains the property of the State

Therefore a State department must issue permission the local county council has no authority to issue permission to land.


But I’m sure higher powers than ourselves will decide that one.

As you can see from the photos the first landing was made to the foreshore.

I suspect the same rules apply in the UK as Irish Law is more or less a copy of UK law.

Did the For Sale sign at the gates to the property appear before or after the crash?

cctv footage of the crash
Helicopter crash in Bettystoen County Meath Ireland - Sky News Video Player

Check this vid out, a cctv camera caught the actual crash...

Massive amount of yaw...

Hard to determine the cause of the crash though!

Looks like he clipped a pole and the fire was post impact
Lucky guy

Ireland Does not have a dept of marine anymore
 

apparently Islands dont need a marine department Maritme affairs now part of dept of transport

So, did he have an engine failure before landing or not? From the CCTV, he looks to be in a relatively stable hover and then sudden yaw(tail clips post?) aircraft spins, crashes, less than 10 seconds start to finish!! Bloody hell. He did well to walk away.