THE CATHOLIC and Church of Ireland bishops of Cork will preside over
an ecumenical service next Sunday, March 20th, in memory of the six
victims of the Cork airport crash last month.
The Manx2 flight
from Belfast overturned and caught fire while making a third attempt to
land at the airport at about 9.45am on February 10th.
Six people
survived the crash.
The pilot was Jordi Lopez, a Spanish national,
and the co-pilot was an English national, Andrew Cantle.
The four
passengers who died were Richard Noble from Derbyshire, England; Pat
Cullinan from Belfast; Michael Evans from Belfast; and Brendan McAleese
from Ballymena, Co Antrim.
It is expected a preliminary report on
the crash will be finalised by the Air Accident Investigation Unit
within days.
It could take up to a year to complete a full report on the
incident.
An ecumenical remembrance service is to be held at Cork
City Hall next Sunday at 11am.
Bishop John Buckley of the diocese of
Cork and Ross was in the area at the time of the crash and went to the
airport.
The duty manager invited him to meet the relatives who were
waiting in the arrivals area at the airport.
Bishop Buckley will
be joined at the service by Bishop Paul Colton of Cork, Cloyne and Ross.
The Church of Ireland bishop officiated at a special service at the
chapel in Cork University Hospital on the Sunday after the crash.
Meanwhile,
a legal action is being taken on behalf of the survivors of the crash
and families who lost loved ones. James Healy Pratt of Stewarts Law in
London is overseeing the action against Manx2 airline; the manufacturer
Fairchild Swearingen, and Flightline BCN.
Manx2 has decided to
discontinue the Belfast to Cork route.