History of the Flight
The helicopter, an Agusta A109A II, registration N2NR, was on a private VFR flight from a private site near Londonderry, Northern Ireland, to Caernarfon Airport in Wales. On 22 October 2010, it departed from a private site near Bagshot, Surrey, routing through Ronaldsway Airport, Isle of Man, where it was refuelled, and then continued to St Angelo Airport (EGAB), Enniskillen, arriving at 1650 hrs. A delay in refuelling at Ronaldsway delayed the arrival at St Angelo. Consequently, it was decided to refuel at Caernarfon Airport on the return flight.
On the morning of the accident, the pilot arrived at St Angelo airport at about 0830 hrs. He filed a VFR flight plan for the return flight to Bagshot via Caernarfon Airport, ensured the fuel tanks were filled to full (recorded at 1110 hrs), and carried out a daily inspection. He was later seen reading in the café and flight planning areas. At about 1350 hrs, the pilot spoke on his mobile telephone, then informed ground staff of his departure. He contacted ATC, receiving the aerodrome QNH of 1005 mb and QFE of 1000 mb, and departed to the northeast. Radar first recorded the helicopter at 1425 hrs transiting to the south-east. The flight was conducted in Class G airspace.
The helicopter was tracked by radar and a GPS-based Spidertracks system. It maintained an altitude of about 1,600 ft and a track of 130°, with a groundspeed of approximately 150 kt. About 8 nm from Newry, it turned left onto a heading of 090°, climbed to 2,000 ft, and reduced speed to 130 kt before levelling and accelerating back to 150 kt. After 6.5 nm, it turned right to resume track 130°, then made minor heading changes. The groundspeed throughout was about 150 kt. The helicopter impacted the west face of Shanlieve. All three occupants sustained fatal injuries.
Witness Evidence
Four people were walking in the area. A lone walker, who had started from Leitrim Lodge at 0945 hrs, reported fine, dry, sunny weather initially. By 1138 hrs on Cock Mountain, cloud had moved in quickly, with cloudbase estimated at 1,600 ft to 1,700 ft. As he continued, cloudbase descended, visibility in cloud reduced to about 150 metres. At about 1415 hrs on the summit of Shanlieve, visibility was still about 150 metres. He heard a helicopter pass overhead from approximately 300 metres north of Pierces Castle, followed by an impact. He notified police and commenced a search, meeting three other walkers who also heard the helicopter and impact. They located the burning wreckage near the summit.
Three hill walkers on Castle Bog, about 0.75 nm from the site, were in fog and heard the helicopter pass overhead. One saw a silhouette in or above the cloud. A lone walker 0.8 nm north-north-west of the site also heard it but could not see it.
The pilot of a police helicopter tasked to search at about 1500 hrs described weather as mainly broken cloud at about 2,000 ft with good visibility below and occasional light rain. He flew at 1,500 ft down the road towards Rosstrevor but was prevented from reaching higher slopes by cloud tumbling down the valleys. He reached only the northern end of Castle Bog at about 1,400 ft, some 500 ft below the accident site.
Meteorological Information
The Met Office provided an Aftercast based on surface charts, satellite imagery, and TAF/METAR. An occluded front passed over the Mourne Mountains from north to south at about 1300 hrs, introducing a cloudy, moderately unstable north-easterly flow. A trough of low pressure was near the area with light to moderate rain showers. Broken or overcast cloud had a base of 1,200 ft to 2,500 ft amsl, tops between 5,000 and 8,000 ft. The freezing level was estimated at 3,000 to 4,000 ft, with icing risk within cloud and risk of hill fog. Surface wind was 010°/5–10 kt; 2,000 ft wind estimated at 030°/15 kt. Surface temperature +7°C, dewpoint +6°C.
At Belfast International Airport at 1450 hrs: wind 040°/09 kt, visibility 10 km, cloud few at 1,300 ft and broken at 4,400 ft, temperature +7°C, dewpoint +5°C, QNH 1006 mb. At Belfast City Airport: wind 010°/10 kt, visibility 10 km with showers, cloud few at 1,200 ft, scattered at 1,900 ft, broken at 2,500 ft, temperature +8°C, dewpoint +5°C, QNH 1006 mb. The Belfast Regional Pressure Setting was 1001 mb.