It is impossible not to have anything but the deepest sympathy for relatives of the 61 people who died in the Tuskar Rock air tragedy over 32 years ago. Each time this unexplained loss of life is raised in public discussion, there are relatives who must go through further painful reminders of loved ones snatched suddenly from them. Only 13 identified bodies were recovered from the sea but at least their relatives were able to complete their grieving and, to the extent that it is possible after such a tragedy, rebuild their lives and move on. The families of the 48 other victims were not so fortunate.
The original 1970 report into the tragedy by Mr Richard O'Sullivan, the Inspector of Accidents (who has since died), records with dispassionate detail the final flight of EI-AOM on March 24th 1968. The takeoff from Cork at 10.32 a.m. was normal. The plane was cleared to climb to 17,000 feet, an altitude it had achieved by 10.57 a.m. But by one minute later, something had gone badly wrong. "Twelve thousand feet; descending; spinning rapidly" came the message - the last words heard from anyone on board the St Phelim. Shortly after 12 noon local time, the aircraft slammed into the sea, breaking up on impact and sinking into 39 fathoms of water.
The accident report investigated several theories but concluded there was insufficient evidence to explain the crash. However, it was the report's twelfth and final finding that gave rise to an enduring assumption which may yet turn out to have been a convenient red herring. The report raised the possibility that "another aircraft or airborne object" either hit the Viscount or caused it to take such evasive action that the aircraft went into a spin from which it did not recover. While there was no substantial evidence for this, said the report, it could not be excluded "for it is compatible with all of the presently available evidence" Thus was born the assumption that the British military were somehow responsible for the crash and covered it up.
It is in this context that there can only be grave concern at yesterday's disclosure by the Minister for Enterprise, Mrs O'Rourke, that files on the Viscount's maintenance went missing from Aer Lingus; that there were "serious errors" in the Maintenance Operating Plan of the aircraft; that these errors "originated within Aer Lingus"; that details of the plane's maintenance record were absent from the crash investigation report and that nothing at all was said about Aer Lingus's maintenance failures. Mrs O'Rourke is to be congratulated for her tenacity in pursuing - at the request of relatives - her inquiries over the past two years. As her statement yesterday makes clear, we may never know the exact cause of this accident. But it is equally clear that every effort must be made to unearth any new information that could illuminate what might have been behind this dreadful, sudden and unexplained loss of life, even at the remove of 32 years. As we now know in this State, too often in the past unpleasant truths were hidden with ultimately destructive consequences. Mrs O'Rourke has appointed two international inspectors to examine the Tuskar tragedy anew. Their findings, due in November, will be awaited with interest.