Man kicked his way out of rubble to escape wreckage

A SURVIVOR of the horrific Cork plane crash kicked his way out of the rubble before calling his wife to let her know he was alive.

Laurence Wilson, from Larne in Co Antrim, is understood to have struggled out of the wreckage from the back of the doomed flight.

Mr Wilson, who is in his early 50s, has a number of adult children and comes from a well-respected Larne family.

He had travelled to Cork city as part of a training course for his Larne Skills Development engineering and skills firm.

This had been part-organised by the Ledcom economic development group based in the Northern Irish town, which has a significant input from local politicians.

Larne mayor Andrew Wilson confirmed last night that his namesake had made the emotional phone call to his wife after surviving the horror ordeal.

He said while Mr Wilson’s family were relieved to hear their loved one had escaped relatively unharmed, they are acutely aware that many other families have not been as lucky.

The crash survivor is understood to have been kept at Cork University Hospital (CUH) overnight.

His wife and a number of family members have travelled to Cork to be with him.

Among the other known survivors of the crash are a young man from the Glanmire area of Cork city and Mark Dickens, who is understood to have travelled to the southern city from his home in Northern Ireland.

The Glanmire man was named as Peter Cowley, the son of a well-known Cork golfer of the same name.

He injuries included a punctured lung, a broken collarbone and a broken wrist. However, he is expected to make a full recovery.