Editor's Viewpoint: Answers needed on doomed flight - Belfast Telegraph

Friday, 11 February 2011

We take air travel so much for granted — and such is our belief in its safety — that every time a tragic accident occurs we feel a tremendous sense of shock.

That was the initial reaction after the crash at Cork airport yesterday morning of a plane flying from Belfast.

The fact that it was a small commuter-type aircraft made the tragedy seem all the more personal. While six people died, thankfully an equal number survived and for that we should be grateful.

An investigation into the crash has already begun and there are plenty of questions to be answered. Chief among them is why the pilot took the unusual step of attempting a third |landing at the airport after having had to abort two others because of poor visibility.

Reports suggest that the fog was sufficiently dense to prevent those in the control tower |seeing the plane when it landed and flipped over. Obviously conversations between the pilot and the control tower will be central to the |investigation and flight data recordings will also play a vital part.

The public will also want to know if the |aircraft was fitted with technological aids to |enable it to land in poor visibility and if the |airport was equipped to assist flights landing in conditions such as those yesterday morning.

It is to be hoped that the investigation will be both comprehensive and speedy so that any |lessons which need to be learned can be brought into the public domain as quickly as possible.

In the meantime our thoughts are with the families of those who died. They had set off |yesterday morning on what they expected would be a short, routine flight.

Sadly it was a journey which cost them their lives. We also wish those who were injured a speedy recovery, both physically and mentally, from their trauma.