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 Yorkshire, 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.