INVESTIGATORS TO LOOK INTO POSSIBLE TAMPERING OF HELICOPTER DOOR

Date Published: 25-Jun-2007

The Air Accident Investigation Unit is examining the possibility that the door of the helicopter - which fell off and injured three people in Salthill yesterday - could have been tampered withFour separate inquiries have been launched into the accident which happened just after 6 o'clock last evening when the side door fell off the RAF Merlin Helicopter.Britain's Ministry of Defence, the Irish Aviation Authority, the Air Accident Investigation Unit and Gardaí are investigating the incident.Three people who were watching the Airshow on the beach suffered back and neck injuries when the door hit them as the helicopter took off from Salthill Park & headed out over the beach near Blackrock towards Galway Bay.The door fell about a hundred feet and the spectators - two men and a woman - were brought to hospital with minor injuries but have since been discharged