The mother of an air-sea rescue crewman has been awarded €38,000 compensation for the death of her son in an Air Corps helicopter crash.
The Circuit Civil Court heard yesterday that Mr Niall Byrne (25) had been winch-man on the Dauphin helicopter which crashed into sand dunes at Tramore, Co Waterford, in the early hours of July 2nd, 1999, while on a search-and-rescue mission at sea.
Mr Manus McClafferty, solicitor for Mrs Anna Byrne, Watson Park, Killiney, Co Dublin, told the President of the Circuit Court, Mr Justice Smyth, that the Minister for Defence had offered a €38,000 settlement but had declined to admit liability for the crash in which all of the four-man crew were killed.
Mrs Byrne, in a claim that her son had died as a result of the negligence and breach of duty of the Minister, alleged that he had failed to provide sufficient fuel for the helicopter, a proper weather forecast and proper pre-flight planning and had applied undue pressure on the detachment commander to accept the search-and-rescue mission.
It had also been alleged that the crew had been required to depart on their mission three hours beyond their maximum allowable duty for general operations.
Mr McClafferty said the Minister had made a "without liability" settlement offer to Mrs Byrne and her family for mental distress under the Civil Liability Act.Following negotiations with the Minister's legal team a settlement in excess of the maximum compensation of €25,400 required under the Act, together with €4,470 funeral expenses, had been reached and he asked the court, as required by law, to approve the settlement.
Mr Justice Smyth directed that €4,470 funeral expenses be paid out by Mr McClafferty and the remaining €33,530 be paid to Mrs Byrne as personal representative of her late son for distribution among his statutory dependents. He said he knew compensation was never sufficient to acknowledge the death of a young person in such tragic circumstances.