Pilot may have veered to avoid worse tragedy

Date Published: 02-Aug-2007

The pilot of the small plane that crashed at Inverin Airstrip in Connemara four weeks ago may have deliberately veered away from the runaway at the last moment to avert a worse tragedy.

According to reports, warning sirens blared inside the aircraft – possibly indicating low altitude – when the plane emerged from a cloud, or fog, close to the airstrip. The pilot may have decided that it would not be possible to make a safe landing and then tried to bring the plane back up – but couldn’t do so.

Reports suggest that the pilot struggled with the controls as it neared the airstrip. At that stage, there are suggestions that he may have decided to go for the softest available ground nearby and veered past the control building and onto scrubland.

Had the aircraft crash landed on the airstrip more lives could have been lost and the plane could possibly have caught fire. A heavy impact against the tarmac could have produced sparks that may have ignited the fuel tank. There are reports that…..