Air accident investigators publish report on Kildare helicopter crash

An investigation into a helicopter crash which claimed the lives of a Donegal helicopter pilot and his student last April has found the aircraft hit disused electrical power lines before it went down.
34-year-old Colm Clancy from Derrybeg and his 24 year old student Dermot Sheridan Co. Clare, both died in the crash near Carbury in Co. Kildare.
Just after four o’ clock on the 1st of April, the Schwiezer aircraft carrying instructor Colm Clancy and student Dermot Sheridan left Weston Airport on the Dublin/Kildare border on a training flight.
The two seater aircraft was last heard from as it left the Dublin control zone at twelve minutes past four.
It was not until the following day that the wreckage was found on the Bog of Allen near Carbury in Co. Kildare.
An air accident investigation into the crash has found that during a probable low-level transition after a practice manouver, the helicopter hit disused electrical power lines and went down.
34-year-old Colm Clancy from Derrybeg in Co. Donegal, and his student Dermot Sheridan, aged 24, from Co. Clare, both died in the crash which the air accident investigation team said was “not survivable’.