Three separate investigations are being held into the cause of the mishap at Shannon airport at 3.30 a.m. on Saturday when a McDonnell Douglas MD-11 with 317 passengers arriving from New York overran the main runway by about 40 ft.
None of the passengers or crew was injured. After technical examination the three-engine jet, which was not damaged, flew out to New York 15 hours later with a full passenger load.
The 34 passengers who were booked to fly on to Belfast were later taken there by coach. The aircraft, which was American-owned and operated by a World Airlines operations crew, was on contract to Aer Lingus and had an Irish cabin crew.
Weather conditions at Shannon at the time were very bad and Met Eireann had issued gale warnings. Sometime before the mishap an Aer Lingus flight from Boston overflew to Dublin and a Pakistan Airlines jet was diverted to London.
Passengers said they were unaware of the mishap and waited on board until landing steps were brought the two miles to the end of the runway. Some of them said it was a very bumpy landing.
The nose-wheel remained on a pathway but the main undercarriage sank into the soft ground and had to be towed back to the terminal building after being hosed down. The main runway was closed for seven hours. A number of flights were diverted and passengers taken by coach to Dublin and Cork airports. Mr John Hughes headed the investigation on behalf of the air accident and technical unit of the Department of Public Enterprise. Aer Lingus and World Airways are conducting their own investigations.
Fine Gael spokesman on transport, Mr Ivan Yates, has asked the Minister for Public Enterprise to make a statement on the incident.