Air Corps pilot killed in Co Offaly crash

An Air Corps pilot was killed yesterday when his plane crashed in Co Offaly.

Second Lieut Raymond Heery (22), Oldcastle, Co Meath, died when the four-seater Cessna FR-174 crashed shortly after taking off from an airfield. The plane was en route to Baldonnel after dropping off a number of pilots at Clonbullogue, where the Air Corps had been holding a parachute training course with the Irish Parachute Club.

The Department of Transport's Air Accident Investigation Unit (AAIU) and the Air Corps flight safety section have begun separate inquiries into the crash.

Second Lieut Heery, who was based with the 104th squadron at Casement Aerodrome, had joined the Defence Forces in September 2000 and was commissioned in December 2002.

No one else was on board the aircraft when it crashed at about 12.40 p.m. The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, led tributes to the pilot yesterday, expressing sympathies on behalf of the Government to his family and colleagues.

Mr Ahern said the pilot's death "in the line of duty as an officer of the Air Corps is a tragedy for his family and loved ones, as well as a loss to his comrades and to his country. To lose a serving soldier is always a national loss but to lose a young life so full of promise is doubly poignant".

The Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces, Lieut Gen James Sreenan, and the General Officer Commanding Air Corps, Brig Gen Ralph James, also offered their condolences to the family.