THE IRISH AIR Corps fleet of four PC-12 aircraft had to be grounded for a week causing an air ambulance mission to be “stood down”.

The PC-12s – a plane purchased by the Defence Forces to act as a workhorse – is used for everything from surveillance and Government transport to small cargo missions and air ambulance flights to Britain and elsewhere. 

The four single engined planes, built by Pilatus in Switzerland, cost the Irish State close to €50m to buy in 2020.

A document released to The Journal under Freedom of Information legislation confirms the Irish Air Corps was forced to ban the aircraft from flying in September after an audit found shortcomings at Baldonnel airfield.

They were grounded for a week after a quality assurance report said that the aircraft’s ability to fly should be curtailed. 

Sources said that this was because there were not enough technicians available to maintain the PC-12s. It is understood that, at the time, less than half of the required ground staff to work on the aircraft were available. 

Those sources put it down to a number of staff leaving their roles and not being replaced, and pointed to wider recruitment and retention shortfalls at the West Dublin airfield. 

We also understand, from multiple sources, that it is not the first time that such a grounding of aircraft has happened. 

The document from Monday 15 September which we obtained is a minute of meeting attended by senior officers in Baldonnel. The email was sent to a string of senior leaders including General Officer Commanding of the Air Corps and director of military aviation, Brigadier General Rory O’Connor.

The quality assurance audit discussed at the meeting found major shortcomings in the “Continuous Airworthiness Maintenance Programme (CAMP)” . There was also a significant number of minor failings. 

The minutes of the September meeting said: “No planned PC12 Ops for this week except for training but an Air Ambulance request deferred since last week while awaiting 281 RTS (a return to service form) was stood down by NEOC (National Emergency Coordination Centre) this afternoon (15 September 2025).”

This meant that an air ambulance mission was not fulfilled due to the lack of an available aircraft. Two remaining listed impacts are redacted from the document and likely refer to secret military operations.

The document then suggests that the solution to addressing maintenance shortfalls could be found through a civilian contractor, Rose Aviation, or directly from Pilatus in Switzerland.

A close up view of a PC12 in flight. Irish Defence Forces Irish Defence Forces

We have learned that the PC-12s returned to service after a week and were back flying air ambulance missions and other taskings. 

Just this week a PC-12 was used to ferry an Irish political delegation to Brussels for a major EU meeting. 

But the PC-12 has suffered issues previously. In October 2023 it ferried then-Tánaiste Micheál Martin to a meeting in Luxembourg. The aircraft could not fly home until repairs after a serious fault grounded it.

A separate issue at Baldonnel caused by the lack of qualified Air Traffic Controllers now appears to be resolved.

A spokesman for the Irish Defence Forces said: “For operational security reasons we do not comment on the disposition of the Air Corps fleet.”