RTE reporting a plane crash with fatalities at Cork Airport

Link from Twitter:

RTE on Twitter

ok, this is a small commuter aircraft flying from Belfast to Cork.

There were two attempts to land in heavy weather. On the third attempt the aircraft crashed. The aircraft is still on fire.

There are 10 passengers and 2 crew - reporting so far that 8 are dead

initial attempts to land on runway 17 failed, made an attempt to land at runway 35 in fog which failed. Third attempt to land on runway 17 caused a crash.

For those who dont understand runway numbers,

Add a zero to the runway number to get the magnetic heading. so runway 17 is almost southerly on a heading of 170 degrees. Runway 35 is actually the same runway, but when approached from the other end (each direction is classed as a separate runway on the same tarmac strip)

Janey wrote:initial attempts to land on runway 17 failed, made an attempt to land at runway 35 in fog which failed. Third attempt to land on runway 17 caused a crash.

For those who dont understand runway numbers,

Add a zero to the runway number to get the magnetic heading. so runway 17 is almost southerly on a heading of 170 degrees. Runway 35 is actually the same runway, but when approached from the other end (each direction is classed as a separate runway on the same tarmac strip)

Learned somthing new today. thanks Janey

On Sky News now.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/

just hearing now that this is a small TP aircraft (turboprop). The problem with these TPs is that they are not equipped to land on autopilot in fog. Heavy jets can do something called a Category 3 autoland, whereby the aircraft lands itself when the pilots cannot see the runway environment on final approach.

The aircraft used today was not capable of this, so it was down to pilots visibility to land.

winds there are light so the crew attempted to land on the runway from both directions. In normal circumstances one must only land into the wind. It is dangerous to land with a tailwind.

Confirmed reports of people trapped.

the aircraft touched down and lost the runway environment, so ended up on the grass. Wheels in the grass causes aircraft to roll over

injuries reported also, taken to Cork Hospital

still trying to work out what aircraft this is. It is a prop, other info not available yet

the aircraft is a Fairchild Metroliner 19 seater, manufactured in Texas, only a couple of years old.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairchild_Swearingen_Metroliner

latest is six killed - six injured

Janey wrote:latest is six killed - six injured

yea BBC is just getting that .

Six people have died and six others injured after a plane travelling from Belfast City Airport crashed in fog at Cork Airport ,

BBC Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/BBCBreaking

ok, I can confirm that this was a category 2 approach.

That means that there was only 300 metres (1000ft) view forward out of the windows. The aircraft landing at 120MPh or thereabouts means that this is a very narrow visibility window.

There was no visibility at all above 200ft.

In real terms, the aircraft had to descend to 200ft on autopilot (following a tracking device to the runway called an ILS). The pilot would not see the runway until he reached 200ft above ground and only then would see only the first 1000ft of the tarmac.

However, it seems in this case the crew reached 200ft above the ground and still could not see the runway

current indications are that this is a LSA accident - lack of situational awareness - pilot speak for getting confused as to location - in this case due to weather

all flights for Cork now being diverted to Shannon

pilot circled above the airfield for 20 mins, burning precious diversionary fuel before making final ill fated attempt to land

latest is that a couple of the injured are classed as "serious", others "walking wounded"

Any reports of instrument problems?

Specifically compass...

Chiral wrote:Any reports of instrument problems?

Specifically compass...

not as yet, in fact the Fairchild aircraft is equipped with triple redundancy with 2 electronic display screen compasses and a standalone mechanical "whisky compass" so it was inconcievable that they would have lost a compass heading. The specific aircraft compasses are driven by both inertial reference systems and GPS. The IRS provides a standalone system of navigation which doesnt require outside sources.

If anyone wants more info on aircraft navigation or IRS pls give me a shout.

The heading indicator becomes useless below DH (decision height) which at this airport is 200ft above the ground. As beyond that point on this aircraft it is up to the pilots to visually align themselves with the runway with hand-eye coordination on the controls to find the runway centreline. Bigger aircraft such as Boeings have automated landing systems, but not this little Fairchild. Below 200ft in the approach they must see the runway and perform the landing by hand in this aircraft.

It appears that quite simply they lost the view of the runway. They look to have touched down only a couple of feet to the side of the runway, perhaps with only one wheel not on the tarmac. In the wet grass there today that is enough for the wheel to dig in and flip the aircraft.

Sounds like a serious accident