Tributes to crash pals as plane wreckage removed
Tributes paid as probe into incident gets under way
THE heartbroken family of one of two men killed in a horror plane crash has described him as “an exceptional person”.
Pilot Peter Tawse, 61, and 58-year-old John Finnan both died instantly when their aircraft fell apart and plunged from the sky on Sunday evening.
Pal Aidan O’sullivan, who was the last to see the pair alive as he waved them off from a Wexford airfield, told the Irish Mirror: “Her wheels would never touch the green grass strip on which it departed again but instead land on heavenly clouds, as his last flight would take him from this life to the next.”
Locals in Duncormick, Co Wexford, rushed to rescue the men but both were pronounced dead at the scene.
A close relative of Mr Tawse said last night: “He was extremely popular and he was extremely well-known and he was a very generous, kind-hearted person.
“His mum is in her late 80s and in England. He has other family in England as well. This is very hard. We are all devastated.
“He was very kind, a real gentleman and he never had a bad word to say about anybody.
“He was really particular about his work, an absolute perfectionist. We’re all very upset here and finding it so hard to
believe. Peter was good-natured and good-humoured, he liked the easy-going life. He was an exceptional person. That’s the best way I can put it.”
Mr Tawse, from Old Ross, Co Wexford, had been a flying instructor since 1982 and was well known throughout the region, having been the manager of Waterford Airport from 1987 until 2002.
Fellow flying enthusiast Mr Finnan worked for Teagasc in Carlow and was originally from Athy, Co Kildare, but lived in Naas and was part of the Wexford Flying Club.
He is survived by his parents John and Clare and three sisters Emer, Ciara and Mary. Mr O’sullivan recalled waving to the victims as they set off from the airstrip a short distance away in Taghmon, Co Wexford.
He said: “I still find it hard to come to terms with that fact that I watched him take off from the runway at the Irish Light Aviation Society’s airstrip [on Sunday], as I so often do.
“But tragically on this occasion his aircraft would never return.”
Mr O’sullivan is cabin service manager with Aer Lingus Aviation, but he credits Mr Tawse with inspiring his love of flying.
He fondly recalled the first time they met.
Mr O’sullivan added: “So growing up and living just behind the Irish Light Aviation Society airstrip in Taghmon, Co Wexford, it was a real treat watching all types of light aircraft fly in and out.
“In fact it was there at an annual fly-in years back that I was first introduced to Peter Tawse and his aircraft, as he was operating his Recreational Flying Club out of the ILAS airstrip.
“He was also incredibly generous with his time and had an incredible passion for aviation.” One of the first people to arrive on the scene on Sunday night was local farmer Michael Doran.
He told the Irish Mirror that at first he hoped he could help rescue the men.
Mr Doran said: “In my innocence I was actually going to try and offer assistance – I thought that someone was just in trouble.
“I heard, I won’t say an explosion but a loud noise, like a petrol mower back firing. It sounded like that and I looked up immediately, because it was louder than it would be usually be, the noises associated with those light aircraft flying in the area.
“I just looked up and at that point I could see it and it was falling out of the sky disintegrating.
“I just dropped what I had in my hand,
my jacket and flash lamp, and rang the emergency services straightaway and got in my car and drove as fast as I could to where I thought the plane had fallen.
“I located it within a couple of minutes, I was expecting that there was going to be a fire or smoke of something but there wasn’t.
“I rushed to it to try and see if I could offer assistance but I couldn’t find anyone in the plane and I started searching in the fields around.”
At this point other locals had also arrived on the scene. The two men were found lifeless and were later pronounced dead by emergency services.
Chief Inspector of the Air Accident Investigation Unit Jurgen White is leading the probe. As the wreckage was removed, he said investigators are searching for debris over an area of approximately one mile.
Mr White added the AAIU received an initial alert just after 6pm on Sunday, and added he believed the aircraft was being used for a training flight.
Councillor Ger Carthy added: “This is a tragedy of unspeakable proportions.
“Two gentlemen went up to do what they love, they had a love for aviation and something catastrophic happened. The results of air investigation will offer some answers in the fullness or time but that will take some time.
“This sleepy rural area of south Co Wexford is in deep shock.
“I extend condolences to the families and also wish to commend the emergency services for their response.”