Photograph: Chris MaddaloniThe first Air Corps flight ever to carry troops into a conflict zone was piloted by the service’s only fully qualified and commissioned woman pilot. The Air Corps C295 aircraft carried out an operation to transport key Defence Forces personnel to Lebanon and return an engineering team. Before joining the Air Corps, she gained a civilian pilot’s licence and worked as part of Aer Lingus check-in staff. “We wanted a Ryanair turnover, done as quickly as possible, with no hugs or high fives,” said Col Denis Hanley, Air Corps director of operations and planning. It gave the Air Corps the capacity and flexibility to carry out long range operations like that to Beirut, he said.

Source: The Irish Times April 03, 2026 17:02 UTC