Memorial service held for Lord Ballyedmond and three other men at church close to site where aircraft crashed in thick fog
As air accident investigators began to remove debris from the helicopter that crashed in dense fog in Norfolk on Thursday, four candles were lit in a village church a few miles away in memory of the Conservative peer Lord Ballyedmond and three others who died in the accident.
The flight recorder was recovered on Saturday but it will take time to remove all the wreckage which is scattered across a field. A spokesman for the Department for Transport's air accidents investigation branch said the distribution of all the wreckage, only a few hundred yards from Gillingham Hall, the estate and stately home of Ballyedmond, was being plotted before fuel was removed from the helicopter to make the wreck safe, and its rotor blades and tail section dismantled.
Candles were lit and prayers said for the men during a service at All Saints church, Kirby Cane, where the Rev Julie Oddy-Bates said: "It's a huge tragedy for the families of all four men that died and in a small community those things have a big effect. During our prayer time we'll be praying for them and for their families in this time of grief."
The other victims were Declan Small, from Mayobridge in Co Down, who worked as a foreman for Ballyedmond, and the two pilots, Carl Dickerson and Lee Hoyle.
The Westland AW139 helicopter crashed into a field in Gillingham, near Beccles, soon after it took off on Thursday night.
It has emerged that the Northern Ireland peer, better known in business circles as Edward Haughey, had issued a writ last year through his charter business Haughey Air against AgustaWestland over alleged defects in a helicopter, but it has not been confirmed that it was the one involved in the crash.
The case was lodged in Septemberand is understood to have included concerns about in-flight mapping systems. A spokesman for AgustaWestland said the company could not comment but that it was investigating.
Balleyedmond, believed to be the richest man in Northern Ireland, owned the veterinary pharmaceutical firm Norbrook. He became a life peer in 2004, and was also a former member of the Irish senate. Reported by guardian.co.uk 11 hours ago.
As air accident investigators began to remove debris from the helicopter that crashed in dense fog in Norfolk on Thursday, four candles were lit in a village church a few miles away in memory of the Conservative peer Lord Ballyedmond and three others who died in the accident.
The flight recorder was recovered on Saturday but it will take time to remove all the wreckage which is scattered across a field. A spokesman for the Department for Transport's air accidents investigation branch said the distribution of all the wreckage, only a few hundred yards from Gillingham Hall, the estate and stately home of Ballyedmond, was being plotted before fuel was removed from the helicopter to make the wreck safe, and its rotor blades and tail section dismantled.
Candles were lit and prayers said for the men during a service at All Saints church, Kirby Cane, where the Rev Julie Oddy-Bates said: "It's a huge tragedy for the families of all four men that died and in a small community those things have a big effect. During our prayer time we'll be praying for them and for their families in this time of grief."
The other victims were Declan Small, from Mayobridge in Co Down, who worked as a foreman for Ballyedmond, and the two pilots, Carl Dickerson and Lee Hoyle.
The Westland AW139 helicopter crashed into a field in Gillingham, near Beccles, soon after it took off on Thursday night.
It has emerged that the Northern Ireland peer, better known in business circles as Edward Haughey, had issued a writ last year through his charter business Haughey Air against AgustaWestland over alleged defects in a helicopter, but it has not been confirmed that it was the one involved in the crash.
The case was lodged in Septemberand is understood to have included concerns about in-flight mapping systems. A spokesman for AgustaWestland said the company could not comment but that it was investigating.
Balleyedmond, believed to be the richest man in Northern Ireland, owned the veterinary pharmaceutical firm Norbrook. He became a life peer in 2004, and was also a former member of the Irish senate. Reported by guardian.co.uk 11 hours ago.