Vol. 524 No. 3
109 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Public Enterprise if she will have a re-examination made into the circumstances surrounding the forced landing by Aer Lingus flight 270 EI-ACF in Spernal, England, on 1 January 1953, following the discovery of new evidence which suggests that a person (details supplied) may have been unjustly treated following the initial inquiry. [22423/00]
The accident was the subject of a public inquiry held in the Four Courts in June 1953 before the late Judge Thomas Teevan SC.
The inquiry found that the Aer Lingus DC 3 aircraft on a scheduled flight from Dublin to Birmingham on 1 January, crashed at Spernal, near Birmingham, with the loss of the aircraft. There were no fatalities.
The inquiry found that the captain was responsible for the accident by allowing both engines cut out by feeding from the same fuel tank which ran dry.
The captain's licence was endorsed by the then Minister for Industry and Commerce, the effect of which prohibited him from flying passenger aircraft. The licence was restored without prejudice in 1977.
The late captain's family now seek the quashing of the verdict of the court and officials of my Department are in contact with them. These discussions should shortly result in an agreed mechanism for a structured review of the issues which are of concern to the family.
