Investigation under way after plane skids off Sligo runway

An investigation was under way in Sligo yesterday into how an aircraft carrying 40 people skidded off a runway and tilted into the sea.

Nobody was injured in the incident, which happened as the aircraft landed during heavy rain on Saturday afternoon.

But a member of the rock band Aslan, who were among the passengers on the Euroceltic Airways flight from Dublin, described it as a "very, very frightening experience".

Although the Fokker 27 aircraft also faced high winds as it made the landing, the problem seems to have arisen from the amount of rainwater on the runway, which is located on a coastal spit at Strandhill.

"The pilot touched down and hit the brakes, but it aquaplaned, basically, and kept going," a Euroceltic spokesman said.

The plane crossed a short, rocky beach at the end of the runway, bursting three of its tyres, before coming to a stop with its nose in the sea.

The 36 passengers and four crew were safely evacuated and the plane was removed after crash inspectors examined the scene. An inquiry by the Department of Transport is under way.

Euroceltic, a Luton-based airline owned by a group from Waterford, began operating the Dublin-Sligo and Dublin-Donegal routes this summer.

The two Fokker 27 planes it uses were due to be replaced in the next few weeks by Fokker 50s, bought from Aer Lingus. But the spokesman said the age of the planes - they were built in 1984 - was not a factor in Saturday's incident. He said the pilot and co-pilot on the Sligo flight were both "very experienced".

Aslan went ahead with their Saturday night concert in Sligo despite the shock. Guitarist Billy McGuinness described his fear as he watched the plane's tyres burst: "When I saw the sea, I thought, 'oh my God, we're in trouble here'." Band members had earlier joked about the tradition of rock groups involved in air crashes, he added.

Euroceltic said schedules would return to normal today. The company also flies from Waterford to Luton and Liverpool, and is currently offering free daily flights between Dublin and Waterford until Christmas.