Locals first alerted by sirens

LOCALS were entirely oblivious to the tragedy that unfolded at Cork Airport until they heard blaring sirens racing up Airport Hill.

Staff at the airport say they heard a bang as the Manx2 aircraft landed on grass about 30 feet from the runway.

Mary Bayer runs a B&B less than 200 feet away from the main entrance to airport. Her suspicions were first raised when she saw “unmarked garda cars whizzing past” the front of her bungalow: “I then saw streams of endless ambulances and the fire brigades and I knew something huge had happened. But I had heard nothing.”