THE funeral of one of the two Irish Air Corps pilots who died following a crash in Connemara took place yesterday.

Captain Derek Furniss – who joined the Defence Forces in 1994 – was remembered at a funeral mass in Ballinteer, Dublin, at noon. His colleague, Air Corps cadet David Jevens, who also perished in the accident, was laid to rest in Wexford on Friday.

The men lost their lives in a tragic training exercise in Galway during which their PC9 aircraft crashed into the side of a hill. Both pilots were buried with full military honours. ­

Captain Furniss, who was unmarried but living with his partner, had more than 3,000 hours flying time and was a member of the Air Corps PC9 display team.