THE DEPARTMENT of Transport’s air accident investigation unit is to lead an inquiry into the crash of an Aer Arran aircraft at Shannon airport yesterday.
Some 21 passengers and four crew survived the crash, which happened when the nosewheel of the ATR-72 appeared to collapse on landing, sending the craft skidding about 100 metres along the runway before it came to rest on a grass verge in front of the air traffic control tower at 10.30am.
Conditions were windy at the time. The pilot, flying a scheduled Sunday morning service from Manchester, is understood to have previously sought permission to “go round” and approach the landing strip a second time.
Eyewitnesses said the Aer Arann aircraft, in Aer Lingus colours under a franchise arrangement, appeared to land as normal, but shortly after impact the nosewheel seemed to collapse and the plane skidded. It veered off at the intersection of the airport’s main runway and taxiway, leaving other aircraft unable to land or take off.
The airport’s fire and emergency crews responded immediately and passengers and crew were taken to the terminal building, where they were assessed by Health Service Executive paramedics. None were said to have life-threatening injuries.
The airport reopened after 4pm after a preliminary examination by staff from the department’s air accident investigation unit. Efforts to contact the unit or the department yesterday were unsuccessful.
An Irish Aviation Authority spokeswoman said it would participate in the inquiry, but the lead authority would be the air accident unit. The Garda also confirmed it would contribute.
Aer Arann confirmed the involvement of its craft yesterday, and that the craft had experienced “a suspected failure of the nosewheel landing gear”. It said it could not speculate as to the cause of the incident, and the relevant authorities had been informed.
The aircraft was taken to a secure hangar where investigators will continue to examine it today.
The ATR-72 has capacity for up to 78 passengers with two pilots and about four crew. The twin-engine turboprop is widely used as a short-haul regional aircraft and is manufactured by Franco-Italian consortium ATR in France.