Major probe gets underway into fatal crash
It was the worst commercial airline accident at an Irish airport in the history of the state.
Two people emerged from the wreckage of the Manx2 commuter flight which crashed on the main runway at Cork Airport at 9.52am, with four passengers seriously injured.
The 1992-built 19-seat Fairchild Metroline twin turbo-prop aircraft, operated by Manx2 airlines, departed from Belfast’s George Best International Airport at 8.12am.
There were 12 people on board flight NM7100 — a Spanish pilot, his British co-pilot, and 10 passengers.
Visibility at Cork Airport was very low at the time it was due to land, with dense fog reducing visibility to just a few hundred feet.
Local residents who live within yards of the airfield said they could not see the runway from their homes.
The aircraft aborted its first landing on the airport’s main Runway 17 and went around to try a second landing on the airport’s second Runway 35, which the pilot also aborted.
It is understood the pilot executed a “go-around” to try a third landing on Runway 17 again. However, the aircraft crashed on landing.
There were unconfirmed reports that it landed sideways, and flipped over, skidding for several hundred yards on its roof off the runway and onto the muddy grass verges on the right side of the runway.
It came to rest almost opposite the main terminal building with its right-side engine in flames.
The airport’s fire crews rushed to the scene and extinguished the blaze within three minutes, preventing it from spreading to the cockpit and fuselage.
The airport was shut down and the Cork County Major Emergency Action Plan was activated four minutes after the crash.
Gardaí sealed off the airport’s approach roads as a fleet of nine HSE-crewed ambulances, three rapid response vehicles, and fire crews from Cork city, Carrigaline, Bandon and Ballincollig rushed to the scene.
A rapid response medical team headed up by consultant in emergency medicine, Dr Stephen Cusack, was also dispatched. They set up a triage area under a dome tent near the crash site. Six passengers were pronounced dead at the scene.
Miraculously, two passengers managed to escape the wreckage with minor injuries. Fire crews entered the aircraft to retrieve the injured.
Three people were taken out on stretchers and fire crews used cutting equipment for up to 40 minutes to free the fourth. All were conscious. It is believed all the survivors were sitting towards the rear of the aircraft.
They had suffered multiple fracture and internal injuries. Four remained in a serious condition at Cork University Hospital last night.
Superintendent Charlie Barry said the first priority for emergency services was the preservation of life.
“As soon as that was established and they were removed by ambulances and emergency cordons were set up, we then went in,” he said.
“The plane had obviously flipped over and it was lying on its roof. Fire services used cutting equipment to take out the casualties and unfortunately the fatalities. We are all trained for this. It is part of our job and we deal with it in that manner.”
Doctors at Cork University Hospital (CUH), a level one trauma centre, began to clear patients from its emergency department to await the casualties and were expecting to receive patients with burn injuries.
The first ambulance left the airfield under garda escort within two to three minutes of the fire being brought under control.
Mick Norris, from the HSE’s ambulance service, said those who managed to escape from the wreckage had minor injuries but were obviously in a state of shock.
“Our immediate task was to get the casualties from the plane to the hospital as quickly as we could,” he said.
“Luckily we had enough ambulances on scene and because of the proximity of the hospital we were able to have a quick turnaround and ambulances were able to deliver those less seriously injured and come back for the more seriously injured.”
The dead bodies were removed to a waiting area at the airport where initial identifications were made. Some family members who were at the airport were taken to a private room and told of the tragedy.
The remains were then removed to CUH where postmortem examinations will be carried out. Garda family liaison officers were waiting at the hospital to help relatives.
Cork County fire brigade chief Seamus Coughlan said the emergency action plan was stood down within an hour and a half of the crash.
“The underfoot conditions at the crash site were difficult, but the operation went smoothly in no small part due to the pre-training we do at the airport,” he said.
County manager, Martin Riordan, who chairs the Cork County Major Emergency Plan committee, praised the emergency services.
“The fire was under control within minutes following the response of the emergency fire service in the airport itself,” he said.
“As the fatalities and casualties were dealt with the major emergency was stood down at 11.05am.
“The incident has been a major tragedy for Cork airport and the unfortunate victims. On behalf of the airport, the county and all the various response agencies, I express our condolences to the families of the deceased.”
Chief executive of Cork Airport, Pat Keohane, confirmed weather conditions at the time were foggy.
“The details in terms of the accident investigation is under the aegis of the Irish Aviation Authority and the Accident Investigation Unit,” he said.
“We have procedures in place depending on weather conditions. There are protocols operated on a constant basis. All of those would have been acting as normal today.”
The accident site was sealed off and an advance team from the Department of Transport’s Air Accident Investigation Unit was on site before 1pm.
Investigators wearing forensic suits began combing the wreckage and the airfield for debris. They also surveyed the crash site from air on board an Aer Corps helicopter.
Because the aircraft was registered in Spain, air accident investigators from Spain will be involved in the probe.
They have retrieved the aircraft’s black box and cockpit voice recorder. They will be examining both devices to establish whether the aircraft was operating normally before the crash. The weather conditions will also be a major focus of the probe.
Noel Hayes, the chairman of Manx2, described the accident as the worst in the airline’s five-year history.
“This has been a terrible day and our thoughts are, first and foremost, with the families of those who lost their lives, and those who were injured,” he said.
“We need to establish what happened this morning, and we will continue to work with the authorities throughout their investigation.
“Members from my team have been in Cork to liaise with the relevant authorities.
“Manx2.com has never experienced anything like this in our five year history and the tragedy has been a terrible shock to us all.
“We extend our deepest sympathy to the families of those who lost their lives, and we hope that the people who were injured make a full recovery.
“I also want to pay tribute to the emergency services in Cork, who were extremely quick and professional in their response. In addition we are very grateful for the support provided by Cork Airport and Belfast City Airport. We will continue to do everything we can to help those affected in any way by this tragedy.”
Mr Keohane said HSE counselling will be offered to passengers at the airport who may have witnessed the accident, and that internal supports are available to airport staff.
* Gardaí established a casualty bureau helpline on 021 4328820.
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