Emergency services put on standby after air crash scare
Rodney Edwards • Published 19 Nov 2009 09:00
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Mystery still surrounds the apparent plane 'crash' in Fermanagh last week.
A massive search and rescue operation took place across the county following reports of a light aircraft getting into difficulty near Boho.
An extensive cross-border search operation in different parts of Fermanagh was launched and found nothing, leaving police and locals completely baffled.
The major operation saw an unprecedented number of rescue teams scour a broad area from Enniskillen northwards to Belleek and from Lower Lough Erne westwards to the Border.
Inspector Graham Dodds who was leading the operation, wouldn't give an exact figure of 'manpower' involved for "security reasons", but did list all of the services that he requested.
"We had the Fire Service which had a number of vehicles, a fire command centre, the Fermanagh mobile police unit which doubles as an emergency command vehicle, three search and rescue teams, representatives from the police search and rescue team and a police search adviser. And there was also a silver command unit which had myself, a commander from the Fire Service and a commander from the Ambulance Service," explained Inspector Dodds.
"In line with a major incident plan, we did what we had to do to protect life. There wasn't hundreds of people on the ground - there were four or five fire engines and five or six police cars. It looked very dramatic but I would say it was a very measured response. With these things it's always best to get it right," he said.
Members of the Donegal, Sligo and Leitrim mountain rescue teams, the North-West Mountain Rescue Team, a PSNI helicopter and the Sligo coastguard helicopter were all tasked to the scene after local residents reportedly heard loud bangs.
"Once we got four reports of bangs being heard we got concerned. You have to go in it at the right level, as we got more information we got geared up. As the commander, it was run as a major incident in conjunction with the ambulance, police and fire service. We have a duty to protect the public and that's what we did, it was a very big area and it had to be checked thoroughly," said Inspector Dodds.
Boho resident Aileen Keown said she was standing at her kitchen window and could see what she thought was a plane in the distance hurtling towards the water; "It looked to be flying across the sky, then suddenly it just went down. I'd often see planes flying around Boho and somebody said they had seen one flying on the morning of the 'crash' about eight o'clock," she said.
But extensive searches uncovered no wreckage and there has been no reports of any missing or overdue aircraft - so what happened?
Some locals have suggested it might have been a remote-control 'drone', which are used in war-torn countries by the Ministry of Defence, fuelling the conspiracy by Independent Councillor Bernice Swift that it was the 'work' of the British Army.
But Inspector Dodds was quick to quash Councillor Swift's suggestion, saying; "I can rule that out. If there was a military operation going on we wouldn't have organised a major operation," he said.
This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 19 Nov 09
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