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Niall Carson/PA Wire

Fatal Offaly air crash was caused by inadequate fuel in the tank

No technical faults that could have contributed to the crash were found by investigators looking into the deaths of the two men near Birr airfield last year.

A LIGHT AIRCRAFT crash that killed two men in Birr, Co. Offaly last year was caused by a lack fuel in the tanks according to a report by investigators.

Flying instructor Niall Doherty and trainee Damien Deegan were killed when their Cessna F150H crashed near Birr Airfield on 11 November 2012.

The report published today found that then men had completed a touch-and-go landing where their plane touched down and immediately took off again without stopping.

During the climb which followed the plane was heard by witnesses to lose power before they saw the aircraft making a steep descent and turn to the left before disappearing from view. The aircraft impacted heavily in scrub land and came to rest inverted, it was completely destroyed by the crash.

The Air Accident Investigation Unit (AAIU) of the Department of Transport found that the engine power loss was caused by fuel starvation. No technical faults that could have contributed to the crash were found. The AAIU issuing eight safety recommendations as a result of the fatal incident.

Air worthy

The plane had a current Airworthiness Review Certificate (ARC) that was issued on 21 February 2012 and a check recorded in April 2012 indicated that the fuel gauge indicators were working correctly. Investigators also said that the most recent test indicated that the fuel consumption of the aircraft was in accordance with the manufacturer’s published data. The report cited “inadequate fuel management” as a contributory factor in the crash.

The plane was refuelled before a previous training exercise but not the one where the crash occurred. At the time of the crash the estimated fuel quantity was less than the recommended level published by the manufacturer.

Weather did not play a part in the incident but fatigue may have according to the AAIU. No flight recorder was fitted to the aircraft nor was it required to be.

The AAIU issued eight separate safety recommendations as part of the report, all of which related to the measurement and logging of fuel on board aircraft.

Read the report in full here >

Read: Investigations into plane crash which killed instructor and trainee pilot >

Read: Report into Birr plane crash found ‘no technical defect’ >

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24 Comments
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    Mute Martin Hodson
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    Oct 29th 2013, 3:09 PM

    Do your checklist before every flight and always check your fuel level, basic flying requirements. RIP.

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    Mute Despicable You
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    Oct 29th 2013, 4:56 PM

    RIP

    Even if they ran out of fuel, would it not be possible to glide down rather than make a ‘steep descent’? (still no guarantee of survival).

    Running out of fuel will cause the engine to sop, but control inputs or failed components are what cause steep descents?

    18
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    Mute Leslie Alan Rock
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    Oct 29th 2013, 5:05 PM

    Yes. But the land conditions need to be good. I.e. high grass or ploughed lane is impossible to land on. May have ran out of time

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    Mute Jason Culligan
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    Oct 29th 2013, 7:32 PM

    Really depends on how steep the plane is ascending after taking off. If the engine cut out in a steep clime at a low angle (which I’m assuming this was judging by the witness statements and the end result) then it just could not be recovered. You need to have enough forward momentum to glide and without it you’ll fall like a rock.

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    Mute Jason Culligan
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    Oct 29th 2013, 7:33 PM

    That should be low altitude, not low angle.

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    Mute Séan Ó Giobúin
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    Oct 29th 2013, 8:55 PM

    They could have stalled. If you lose power during a climb the airspeed will bleed off rapidly unless the pilot gets that nose down to maintain airspeed, and glide. otherwise the aircraft will drop out of sky in seconds. At those low altitudes you only have seconds to react. Poor guys. RIP.

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    Mute Vincent Power
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    Oct 30th 2013, 2:13 PM

    The plane was on climb out and the angle of descent would be the same as the angle of climb. Very difficult to recover from at that point.

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    Mute Right Wing Steve ©
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    Oct 29th 2013, 3:15 PM

    John Denver did the same thing, he couldn’t find the switch for the reserve tank

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    Mute Dermot Lane
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    Oct 29th 2013, 3:25 PM

    I heard the John Denver crash was suicide

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    Mute Right Wing Steve ©
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    Oct 29th 2013, 3:28 PM

    His friend built him a prototype, he put the switch for the tanks behind the head of the pilot, so he ran out of fuel with half a full tank, tragic.

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    Mute Luke Sullivan
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    Oct 29th 2013, 3:38 PM

    And he wasn’t supposed to be flying in the first place as Denver’s licence had been suspended afaik.

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    Mute Fong Wannapho
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    Oct 29th 2013, 3:13 PM

    I could understand running out of fuel in a car, but in an aircraft.

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    Mute Séan Ó Giobúin
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    Oct 29th 2013, 9:26 PM

    We’re all fallible at the end of the day Fong and there are so many factors that could lead one into slipping up or missing something. Unfortunately they weren’t lucky enough to learn from their mistake. RIP

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    Mute Shauna Nolan
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    Oct 29th 2013, 11:17 PM

    Horrible to presume ye know everything these comments are of no comfort to the family and friends of these lads don’t know why people feel d need to make comments saying they would never make that mistake

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    Mute Mary Kavanagh
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    Oct 29th 2013, 3:23 PM

    Just thinking about that…So sad!

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    Mute Ronan C Gantly
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    Oct 29th 2013, 8:50 PM

    John Denver died flying an experimental homebuilt a/c that had a ground adjustable only fuel cock which had been in the off position prior to his last takeoff. There was sufficient fuel useable to allow for start..run up and takeoff. The a/c stalled out during a basic aerobatic maneuver he entered minutes after wheels up over a lake. A/c stalled out inverted and he was unable to eject from cockpit prior to hitting water and died on impact. NTSB report states.

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    Mute Irish Red
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    Oct 30th 2013, 12:20 AM

    Very interesting, thanks!

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    Mute John F
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    Oct 29th 2013, 6:30 PM

    Something something, Ryanair, fuel…

    RIP. Hindsight won’t do the families much good now

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    Mute Jason Culligan
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    Oct 29th 2013, 7:34 PM

    No, but it serves as a reminder as to how important pre-flight checks are and why regulations should never be skipped or ignored.

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    Mute Séan Ó Giobúin
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    Oct 29th 2013, 9:09 PM

    What are you on about John F? I guess there’s always going to be someone who makes idiotic comments on a subject they know little or nothing about and in your case completely irrelevant to the article.

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    Mute Ned
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    Oct 29th 2013, 9:35 PM

    Jason, please read the report. You will see that the instructor was capable and did make allowances for fuel. The fuel gauges were not to be trusted and there was clearly ambiguity over unusable fuel level in the plane. On several occasions previously , using reverse calculations, the plane landed with below the minimum levels leading to the question of who was monitoring flights. What I can’t understand is why there wasn’t a clear warning label in the plane that stated the unable fuel capacity. Had this been clear this would have been avoided and family and friends would still have loved ones today.

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    Mute Ronan C Gantly
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    Oct 29th 2013, 9:51 PM

    Ned every flight I take is preceeded with a fuel check. Fuel gauges in Cessnas of that vintage are notoriously inaccurate and not to be trusted. I have always dipped tanks pre_flight and always will. Assume anything before u fly and someone is going to get hurt. Verify, Fly.

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    Mute John F
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    Oct 30th 2013, 1:42 AM

    Tough Crowd….

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    Mute Timmay Timeo
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    Oct 30th 2013, 9:14 PM

    The AAIU, just rehersing for you know who

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