THE FOG at Cork Airport was so heavy yesterday morning that when air traffic controllers heard a loud bang they were unable to see what happened and had to send out ground crews to try and locate the Manx 2 aircraft after they failed to raise it on the radio.
Ground crews quickly located the aircraft on the main R17 runway in front of the new terminal building and immediately an emergency plan went into operation, with firefighters from the airport’s own fire service quickly arriving and extinguishing the blaze.
According to a local farmer who lives on lower ground than the airport, the fog was so heavy at 9.45am yesterday that he could not see his cattle as he was driving from a field just before the crash and he predicted the fog would be even worse up at the airport.
Another man, Ian Aherne, who was working in the area, told how he heard an extraordinarily loud bang and then heard the sirens go off at the airport so he knew some accident had happened, but again the fog was so thick that he initially could not see what had happened.
“I went up myself and went into one of the fields near the runway and got within about 100 yards of the crash.
“The fog had begun to clear and I could see the plane turned outside with its nose either destroyed or buried in the ground.
“The place was buzzing at that stage, there were ambulances and fire tenders and Garda cars and they had set up this huge tent with a red cross on it. I didn’t see any bodies being removed but I presume that’s where they brought them first. It was pretty bad up there.”
Taxi driver Billy Sexton, from Donoughmore, was chatting with other drivers outside the new terminal building when they heard a bang and sirens going off so they knew immediately something serious had happened.
“The airport police and the airport’s own fire tender were straight out and then you had ambulances up from their base at the Kinsale Road roundabout in the town.
“I’d say they were there within 10 minutes ferrying out the casualties so they really responded fast, in fairness.”
As the fog cleared, the scale of the tragedy became evident, with the 19-seater Fairchild Metroliner visible on its back, with its truncated nose buried in the ground just off the main runway several hundred yards in front of the new terminal building.
Fire tenders and ambulances and Garda cars seemed to almost form a protective cordon around the crashed aircraft as firefighters and paramedic staff in high-visibility jackets worked together to evacuate the casualties.
Among those who attended at the scene was Bishop John Buckley of Cork and Ross, who later explained he met the relatives of those injured as they anxiously waited for news.
“It’s a terrible tragedy. The suddenness and scale of this loss of life is truly shocking.
“You just don’t expect something like this to happen on such a routine flight. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those who’ve been killed or injured and their families.”