A man and his daughter had a lucky escape yesterday when their jeep spun out of control in treacherous conditions in the Wicklow mountains.
Mr John Kelly and his adult daughter, Angelique, were travelling up the Sally Gap, Blessington, Co Wicklow, at 11 a.m. yesterday when their jeep skidded on compacted ice, landing in a ditch.
The Garda helicopter was training in the area and saw the accident from the air. It made contact with the stranded motorists using loudspeakers and landed nearby.
Ms Kelly told The Irish Times last night: "We started waving and shouting when we saw the helicopter, but they had noticed us anyway and called down to us."
The Kellys were flown to safety at Baldonnel airport and taken back to Wicklow to salvage their jeep.
The road conditions were so severe that one of the Garda patrol cars sent to bring the Kelly's jeep off the mountain had the same fate, sliding and skidding down the mountain road.
