On 15 May 1974 two RTÉ crew and a pilot were injured when the helicopter in which they were flying crashed on take-off in Cashel, Co. Tipperary.
Pilot Thompson Boyce, cameraman Eamon O'Connor and director Michael O'Carroll were on board the five-seat Alouette 11 helicopter when the rotor blades hit overhead ESB cables and crashed into an electricity pylon before plunging to the ground. All three were injured but made a full recovery.
The RTÉ crew had been filming a programme about Vincent O'Brien's stables just outside Cashel. The helicopter was being used to get aerial shots over Ballydoyle "gallops" for a piece on Derby horse, Celini.
The helicopter was owned by Irish Helicopters Limited. In October 1973 the same helicopter was used to airlift 3 IRA prisoners from Mountjoy Jail with pilot Thompson Boyce at the helm at gunpoint.
This RTÉ News footage shows the wreckage of the helicopter in a field following the crash.
