An Cosantóir

46 A CENTURY OF FLIGHT AND THE EVOLUTION OF AVIATION SAFETY but several external factors such as other organisations, regulatory bodies and government policy. The Irish Air Corps and the Evolution of Aviation Safety In reflecting on the evolution of aviation safety in the Air Corps, one must consider the establishment of the Flight Safety Section in 2001. This was on foot of a number of recommendations from the AAIU accident report into the loss of Dauphin 248 and her crew in July 1999 at Tramore, Co. Waterford. The recommendations which arose from this report typify the organisational era of aviation safety from which the organisation has greatly benefited. Like all accident reports which involve fatality, these learnings came at a high price, in this instance it was on foot of the tragic loss of Capt David O'Flaherty, Capt Michael Baker, Sgt Patrick Mooney and Cpl Niall Byrne who died in the service of the state and in response to a call to save others. Flight Safety Section is now responsible for many facets of Safety Management within the Air Corps. This includes Flight Safety Promotion, Flight Safety Reviews, Occurrence Management, Accident/Incident investigation and providing direct advice to the General Officer Commanding the Air Corps on matters relating to Flight Safety. The office comprises of 5 staff, the Air Corps Flight Safety Officer, the Deputy Flight Safety Officer, Regimental Sergeant Major (technician), Sergeant (Rear Crew) and a Flight Data Manager. The staff compliment is indicative of a total systems approach to Safety. Flight Safety is not just for pilots, everyone in the Air Corps is responsible for Flight Safety and has an important role to play in the identification of hazards and improvements to our safety barriers. In the opening paragraphs of this article I stated that 'The story of the Air Corps over the preceding 100 years mirrors the various eras of aviation safety'. Below you will see the trend for fatal accidents in the Irish Air Corps over the past 100 years. Just like in the wider realm of aviation, the Air Corps has been ultimately shaped by how the organisation responds and learns from these accidents. The trend below is mirrored in civil aviation and comparative military examples. The advent of aviation safety has played the crucial role in saving countless lives, a task which continues to this day in the continued and ongoing process of safety management. As we mark the Centenary of the Irish Air Corps, we can learn much from the evolution of aviation safety in the last century. It has provided us with significant learning as we look to the years ahead and the next era of aviation safety. I hope in the course of this article I have provided some useful learning and reflection on the eras of aviation safety. We can see from the above graph that the number of fatal accidents in the Irish Air Corps has decreased with each era of aviation safety and the learnings gained by the sharing of safety information. As outlined, these learnings come on foot of tragic loss for the families, friends and colleagues of those who are lost. Throughout the past 100 years the Air Corps has felt the loss of crews who departed on missions never to return home. Since 1922 there have been 38 people killed in Irish Air Corps aviation accidents. The Air Corps of today is indebted to their service, at the conclusion of this article we wish to remember all those who died in Air Corps accidents. We further wish to pay tribute to all those who have been killed in aviation accidents and to remember in our thoughts those they left behind, their families, friends and colleagues. Casement Aerodrome 2021 4 x PC9M of the Flying Training School perform a flypast at the 20th Anniversary of the Crash of Dauphin 248 in Tramore. 'If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants' - Isaac Newton

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