A magisterial inquiry into the helipad incident at St Luke’s Hospital, when a parked car prevented an AFM helicopter from landing to pick up medics for an emergency, is still under way even though two months have elapsed.

The inquiry is headed by Magistrate Marsann Farrugia. Asked to state what progress had been made, a Health Ministry spokeswoman said it was still in progress. She did not say whether a report of the inquiry would be made public after it is concluded.

“As per normal procedure the magistrate will then pass on the process verbal to the Attorney General,” she said. In August, a helicopter needed to pick up a medical crew from the hospital grounds to fly to Gozo, where a patient who had suffered a severe stroke was waiting to be transferred to Mater Dei Hospital back in Malta.

The helipad at St Luke’s is currently being used instead of the facility at Mater Dei, where construction works are taking place.

However, a car was found to be parked on the helipad, blocking the entrance to the landing area.

The medics had to drive to Luqa airport to board the helicopter.

The inquiry has to establish if there was any negligence in the operational procedure and who was responsible for the parked car.

After the incident, Mater Dei officials made it clear that the delay caused by the incident had no bearing on the health condition of the patient, who eventually died at Mater Dei.