The Defence Forces have described as "purely precautionary" the forced landing of an Air Corps Dauphin SA 365F helicopter on a beach near Wicklow town last night.
The aircraft was on a night training flight from Baldonnel aerodrome when a red warning light came on at about 6.40 p.m.
The Dauphin helicopter is of the same type as the aircraft which crashed on Tramore Strand in Co Waterford in July, killing all four crew members. The investigation into this crash has not been completed.
After consulting by radio with technical staff at Baldonnel, it was decided it would be safe to fly the helicopter home. The Dauphin was accompanied on its return by the Irish Marine Emergency Service's Sikorsky S61.
They arrived at Baldonnel at about 8.15 p.m. The Defence Forces' spokesman, Cmdt Eoin O'Neachtain did not know what the warning light indicated but said the landing on the beach was "not uncommon". He said there was no need to draw parallels with July's crash. Doubts about the Air Corps helicopter fleet were raised last month when the officer commanding the Air Corps helicopter wing, Cmdt Aidan Flanagan, accused the Government of inaction. Referring to the Tramore crash, he appealed to the Minister for Defence to make a decision on replacing the Dauphin fleet "before it was too late".
The Defence Forces said it "regretted that an officer would use a public occasion" to make comments on policy.
