Two Air Corps planes out of service following crash at Casement Aerodrome

Two Irish Air Corps planes have suffered significant damage following a crash at Casement Aerodrome in Dublin.

A newly acquired PC-12 aircraft was being towed into position on Thursday evening at Air Corps headquarters in Baldonnell when its tail collided with the wing of a parked CASA CN 235 maritime patrol aircraft.

The resulting damage has knocked both aircraft out of service for the foreseeable future and is likely to cost hundreds of thousands of euro to repair, a military source said.

The incident resulted in severe damage to the horizontal stabiliser of the PC-12 and the outer wing of the Casa.

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A major Air Corps safety investigation into the incident has begun. There will also be an investigation into how photographs of the resulting damage to the PC-12 leaked out, it is understood.

A Defence Forces spokeswoman declined to comment on the particulars of the incident on Friday evening. “There was an incident in the Air Corps yesterday but as the flight safety investigation is ongoing we cannot comment on any details,” she said.

The incident is likely to have a significant impact on Air Corps operations. The Pilatus PC-12 involved in the crash, registered as Irish 283, was acquired in 2020 for over €4 million to help the State respond to the Covid-19 pandemic. Along with three other new aircraft, it was responsible for transporting Covid-19 swabs abroad for testing.

Since then Irish 283 has been used for various tasks including surveillance, air ambulance missions and, in August 2022, completing a 14,000km round trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo to evacuate Irish peacekeepers.

The Casa CN 235, registered as Irish 252 and acquired in 1994, is one of two maritime patrol aircraft used by the Air Corps to monitor Irish waters.

It is also used as a backup aircraft for the Ministerial Air Transport service (MATS) which is used by Government Ministers and officials for international travel.

Ministers including the Taoiseach have had to rely on the Casa more frequently over the last year due to maintenance problems with the Air Corps Learjet 45, commonly known as the Government jet. Both Casa aircraft and the Learjet are due to be replaced in the near future.