Normal service resumes at Cork

A full normal service has resumed at Cork airport following its closure on Thursday morning after a serious plane crash which…

A full normal service has resumed at Cork airport following its closure on Thursday morning after a serious plane crash which claimed the lives of six people.

However, intending passengers are being asked to check directly with their airlines before heading to the airport.

Meanwhile, Department of  Transport air accident investigators hope two black box recorders recovered from the Manx2.com flight will provide them with clues as to what caused the incident.

Paddy Judge, an inspector with the air accident investigation unit, said the five-man team had recovered the aircraft's flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder from the wreckage of the aircraft on Thursday night.

Mr Judge, a former pilot, said the data recorder had been taken to the unit's headquarters at Gormanston, Co Meath, where investigators will download data which records the precise movements made by the aircraft.

The cockpit voice recorder has been taken to Britain by a member of the British air accidents investigation branch to its centre at Farnborough, where staff will endeavour to download the data recording all communications from the pilot.

Six people – the captain, his co-pilot and four passengers – were killed when the Manx2 flight from Belfast crashed when landing at the airport on Thursday morning.

The six other passengers were injured when the aircraft overturned and caught fire in a third attempt by the pilots to land in foggy conditions.

Two of the survivors were discharged from hospital yesterday, while the other four were continuing to be treated for serious but non-life threatening injuries.

The crash investigators have spoken to staff at air traffic control in Cork and have begun examining radar tapes from that morning. They have also interviewed five of the six survivors.