WIRE:11/30/2000 10:39:00 ET Bad landing closes Irish airport, some injured

DUBLIN, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Several people were injured on Thursday when a plane carrying around 170 passengers made a bad landing at Shannon airport in western Ireland and its nose wheel collapsed, airport officials said. A spokesman for Shannon airport said emergency services were on the scene and the airport had been closed until further notice. The plane, a Futura Boeing 737, had come from Lanzarote in the Canary Islands. "I understand there were a few slight injuries," the spokesman said. "The airport is closed at the moment because the aircraft is disabled and on the runway. He said he understood the plane had been carrying around 170 passengers, but could not confirm this as a final figure. Airport officals said all flights into Shannon had been diverted to Dublin and Cork. Futura is a Spanish based holiday charter airline 85 percent owned by Irish state airline Aer Lingus AER.UL, specialising in tours between Spain, Ireland and other European centres. http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/reuters20001130_1616.html

-- Carl Jenkins (somewherepress@aol.com), November 30, 2000