METRO FREE Thursday, September 24, 2009 The GUINNESS word and associated logos are trademarks. Guinness & Co. 2009. GUINNESS.COM 17:59 Arthurs Day 24th September To Arthur 17:59 24th September The GUINNESS word and associated logos are trademarks. Guinness & Co. 2009. A HELICOPTER crashed into a field because a cleaning cloth became entangled in its tail rotor, a report revealed yesterday. The Air Accident Investigation Unit found that the cloth was to blame for last years crash near Dun- shaughlin, in Co Meath, which left its pilot John Mc- Callion, 41, with serious back injuries. Having left Celtic Heliport at Swords headed for We- ston aerodrome shortly after 3.30pm on March 20, the pilot radioed air traffic control telling them I seem to have a bit of a problem here, before warning that he would have to make an emergency landing and trans- mitting a Mayday call. Mr McCallion had been cruising at 250m (800ft) at a speed of 220kmh approaching Dunshaughlin when he heard a loud bang from the rear of the helicopter. The nose of the aircraft pitched up and turned violent- ly to the right; he immediately disengaged the autopilot and attempted to counter to the left, but to no avail. He managed to put the helicopter into an autorotation, killing power and relying on upward flow of air as the copter fell in the hope of making a controlled landing. The helicopter crashed into an isolated field, exten- sively damaging the 2million AgustaWestland, and leaving Mr McCallion, who had nearly 2,500 hours of flying experience, seriously injured. The pilots next memory, according to the report, was lying on the ground some ten to 15ft from the helicop- ter, with rain falling on his face. He could see the air- craft on its side but he had no memory of the ground impact or how he had got out of the cockpit. The subsequent examination of the damaged helicop- ter revealed the cloth, wrapped tightly around the tail rotor drive shaft. The pilot had not spotted it in two daily pre-flight checks, and the inquiry could not iden- tify who had left it there, or when. BY ROSS McDONAGH Cleaning cloth crashed copter He was meant to talk for 15mins. But once Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi got into his stride at his maiden speech at the United Nations in New York there was no stopping him or the range of his subjects. During his 95-minute tirade he called the UNs Security Council the terror council, mentioned the assassination of US president John F Kennedy, the US invasion of Grenada and free medicine for the worlds children. A number of delegates left the hall and Col Gaddafi complained about the tired appearance of those who remained. Please can I have your attention, he said. You are tired. All of you are asleep. GaddaFi tiRadE lEavEs many aslEEp index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html24.html25.html26.html27.html