A HELICOPTER pilot who violated Irish air law by landing on a multistorey car park in Athlone in order to get a set of keys cut has been criticised in an air accident report.
The report said the pilot, accompanied by his brother in a single-engine Hughes 369HS helicopter, wanted to get keys cut for the door of his aircraft at a shopping centre in the centre of the town.
“He landed on the roof floor of the adjacent multistorey car park. It is unclear to the investigation where the helicopter could have been safely force-landed in the event of an engine failure during landing or take off. It is also probable that the approach was made over the unstressed roof of the shopping centre due to the location of the church to the north of the landing site.”
Air accident investigator Paddy Judge said yesterday, “In landing at such a site the pilot displayed poor airmanship.”
Despite repeated requests both by phone and letter, the 48-year-old pilot failed to complete and return an air accident report on the incident.
Mr Judge said the landing site is in a congested area and “furthermore, and importantly, it is an elevated site where rescue and fire-fighting services are mandatory. Neither was availabl”.
The report says the pilot has a US licence, issued in March 2007.
“The pilot stated that he has about 150 hours’ helicopter-flying experience but was unable to supply a logbook, which he stated was lost in a subsequent accident.”
The car park attendant said that as the helicopter approached for landing, he attempted to wave it away. “The helicopter pilot ignored him and he had to duck into the doorway, which gave stairway access to the roof level, as space on the roof is restricted. The downwash from the main rotor caused the door to slam back against him, hitting his hand.”
A doctor said the car park attendant had suffered “soft tissue/tendon bruising” to his hand.