Details emerge about crashed aircraft

The Irish Aviation Authority has released some details regarding the plane which crashed at Cork Airport this morning.

The Fairchild Metroliner sw4 light aircraft itself was built in 1992 and had been in operation on the route from Belfast to Cork since last September.

IAA spokesperson Kevin Humphries said that it would have been fit to fly in these conditions.

Aviation expert David Learmont says the weather conditions could have been the major contributing factor in today's crash.

"The conditions were very challenging," he said. "The pilot clearly rejected the first two attempts because the visibility was simply not good enough."