Vol. 502 No. 1
115 Mr. Daly asked the Minister for Public Enterprise if she will give details of a recent incident at Shannon Airport when the engines of a plane disintegrated before it landed; if her attention has been drawn to the serious concern of the people who work and reside in the vicinity of the airport regarding the incident; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7345/99]
At 08.46 hours on Monday 1 March 1999, a Lockheed 188 cargo aircraft made an approach to landing in poor visibility on runway 24 at Shannon Airport. There were three aircrew and three staff members on board. At the point of touchdown three of the four aircraft propellers struck the runway momentarily and the aircrew applied full power instantly to all four engines to overshoot the runway and go around for a second landing attempt.
During this overshoot the propeller, and part of No. 3 engine, dropped from the aircraft and fell onto a grassy area 200 metres north west of the runway, within the confines of Shannon Airport. The aircrew brought the damaged aircraft around again with the assistance of the Shannon radar and landed safely on runway 24 without further incident. The runway was then closed while an inspection was carried out and any debris from the aircraft was removed by Shannon Airport personnel.
