Families to get plane crash report on Tuesday

THE first official report into last month’s fatal plane crash at Cork Airport is expected to be delivered to the victims’ families and survivors within days.

Jurgen Whyte, chief inspector with the Air Accident Investigation Unit (AAIU), confirmed last night that it is aiming to have the report available to the families on Tuesday, ahead of general publication on Wednesday.

The report, which will run to three or four pages, will outline the basic facts about the February 10 disaster. However, it is understood that investigators have as yet found no problem with the aeroplane to explain the tragedy.

The next phase of the investigation is expected tofocus on pilot Jodi Lopez’s decision to attempt a third landing in thick fog and whether the fog contributed to the crash. It could be at least a year before the exact cause of the tragedy is established.

Six people, including the two pilots, were killed when the 19-year-old Fairchild Metroliner crashed on landing on February 10.

Six passengers survived after the aircraft’s right wing clipped the runway flipping it onto its roof. It skidded off the runway before bursting into flames.

Crash investigators from the AAIU have been working for the last four weeks alongside experts from Britain, Spain and the US.

They reconstructed the plane’s wreckage at the AAIU’s facility in Gormanstown, Co Meath.

They have also been examining data downloaded from aircraft’s cockpit voice recorder, interviews with air traffic controllers, and comparing radar records.

Barring any last-minute difficulties, the preliminary report will be published mid-week just days before a special prayer service is held in Cork city for the victims and survivors.

Bishop John Buckley of Cork and Ross and Bishop Paul Colton of Cork, Cloyne and Ross will lead the ecumenical service at City Hall at 11am on Sunday week, March 20.

The doomed flight, which was on route from Belfast to Cork, was operated by the ‘virtual airline’, Manx2. It announced two weeks ago that it was axing the service following a route review in the wake of the crash.