Galway Civil Defence – Galway Racecourse – 2nd June 2013

6 June 2013

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Wednesday, 19 November 2014 .Home > News > Galway Civil Defence – Galway Racecourse – 2nd June 2013

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Galway Civil Defence – Galway Racecourse – 2nd June 2013

On Sunday 2nd June 2013, 12 members of the Oranmore Civil Defence Unit were on duty at The Gathering Event at Ballybrit Racecourse. There were approx 1000 persons attending the event in theMain Stand. At approx 17:10 an unexpected event occurred, bringing a incident this gathering will always remember. A light aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing due to inclement weather, the pilot and co pilot could not land at the airport as there was a bad fog and landed on the racecourse!

The plane, a light aircraft had being viewing the scenic Cliffs of Mohar, Co. Clare and intended to fly to Inishmore air field on the Aran islands, when a sea fog enveloped the area. This resulted in the air field in Inishmore closing.
The pilot decided to land in Galway Airport, but it also had become enveloped in fog. The plane, now getting low on fuel, and was now forced into a situation all pilot fear.

A member of an Garda Siochana approached our ambulance and alerted us to the fact that a plane was due to make an emergency landing in the area at any moment.
Our Officer in charge sent 3 senior members to accompany the Gardai .
The plane circled over the area, narrowly missing the stand and made a forced landing at the far side of the race course.

Civil Defence members were first on scene and assessed the situation. They were quickly followed by 3 Garda Siochana vehicles, Galway Fire and Rescue Service Emergency tender and Fire Appliance. All were brought to the scene by Civil Defence members.
The pilot and co-pilot we assessed by Civil Defence members, although, in shock, they did not require hospital treatment.

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