The crew of an Aer Lingus chartered aircraft which overran the main runway at Shannon Airport by 230 feet in September 1999 failed to decelerate in time, a report into the incident has found.
The McDonnell Douglas MD11 had arrived from New York's JFK airport and was due to land in Shannon with 317 passengers and 14 crew. But the late selection of the 50-degree flap, which gives the aircraft added lift on its approach, "destabilised what had otherwise been a stabilised approach", according to the Air Traffic Investigation Unit's report.
The plane landed on the 10,500-ft runway, the longest of any airport in the State, 1,600 feet beyond the normal 1,000-ft touchdown point. When it began to decelerate, only 3,800 feet of wet runway remained.
None of the passengers or crew was injured in the incident which resulted in the airport closing for seven hours.
The operator, World Airways, accepted the recommendation that it should review its flight training programme.
According to the report, the aircraft had "bounced a number of times" after its initial touchdown on the runway and the ground spoilers, panels which reduce landing speed, "did not deploy", which prevented the autobrake working.
No braking pressure by the pilot was applied until 8-1/2 seconds after the touchdown. The aircraft commander manoeuvred the aircraft along the runway's centre line so that the nose gear would run onto a narrow pathway that extended from the middle of the runway.
"This manoeuvre was successful and the nose gear did not dig into the grass. The aircraft finally came to a halt and the engines were shut down," the report found.