The Air Accident Investigation Unit continues its examination this morning of the Vulcanair P.68C crash that took place near Waterford Airport on 20 November.
The Italian-built Vulcanair P.68C-TC twin-engined light aircraft with registration EI-HPY crashed in a field near Tramore in County Waterford on 20 November 2025 shortly before 1 p.m. during an emergency landing attempt at Waterford Airport.
The solo pilot died in the high-speed impact, and the Air Accident Investigation Unit began proceedings with four representatives examining the site.
Weather conditions did not factor in the incident as the day offered perfect flying conditions.
Investigators removed the wreckage to a site in Meath for examination and planned to analyse communications between air traffic and the pilot along with maintenance records and the pilot’s qualifications.
The AAIU expected to publish a preliminary report within 30 days and a final report within a year, while noting the aircraft’s small size precluded requirements for a cockpit voice recorder or flight data recorder.
Photographs indicate the aircraft suffered a high-speed impact. Something seriously went wrong within sight of the airport. The weather conditions are not a factor here yesterday, because it was a fantastic day. So the conditions were perfect for flying at any attitude, really and any distance. So I don’t know what elements were involved in that, but it wasn’t weather as a factor.”
A problem with the investigation in this case is that the aircraft is too small to have a requirement for a cockpit voice recorder. A flight data recorder is very unusual to have on an aircraft that size.
Instead investigators will analyse the communications between air traffic and the pilot. They will look at all the factors as regards the maintenance of the aircraft and fuelling, and that kind of thing, and they go into details of what the qualifications of the pilot as well.
Investigators will also look at the impact damage. They have drones now available and they’ve got other methods of recording the field debris, in other words, what happened with the aircraft. The pilot will be taken away for a post-mortem examination when it’s safe to do so.
Investigators are likely to come up with some kind of a report within 30 days, and the final report then takes probably about a year, within which they’ll have a final report.
