An Aer Lingus Fokker 50 aircraft with 50 people on board skidded off the main runway at Cork Airport yesterday afternoon but all the passengers on board were able to disembark safely.
Flights were delayed at the airport up to late last night as an investigation got under way into how the aircraft, on a scheduled flight from Dublin to Cork, managed to wind up in the grass verge halfway down the landing runway. The four crew members were also uninjured.
The flight landed in heavy rainfall and windy conditions at the airport at 4.20 p.m. but as it began to slow down on the runway, it veered off and became stuck in heavy ground on the grass verge. Buses had to be brought out to the aircraft to bring the passengers to the terminal building.
Aer Lingus customer service staff offered medical attention to the passengers but none required it. A spokesman said: "There were no injuries arising from this incident and in line with standard safety procedures, we have already commenced our investigation." The airline said it would also co-operate fully with the separate investigation to be carried out by the Department of Public Enterprise.
Last night, a team of experts from the Air Safety section of the Department was on its way to Cork to begin the investigation.
A number of flights were disrupted because of the closure of runway 17, the main runway, including scheduled departures to Birmingham and Heathrow. However, the second runway at the airport continued to operate and smaller aircraft were able to use it.