Visibility main issue, says expert

DAVID LEARMOUNT, operations editor of Flight Global magazine, said he believed visibility may have been the main issue yesterday, based on initial reports.

He described the Fairchild Metroliner, which began being manufactured in the US in the 1960s, as looking a bit like a hedgehog.

According to the website of Barcelona company Flightline BCN which operated the aircraft for Manx2, the cabin is just over 35 feet long, with a maximum passenger capacity of 19, a cargo door and forward entrance door. It has a maximum cruise speed of 240 knots (444km per hour) and cruising altitude of 6,100 metres.