Written Answers. - Tuskar Rock Air Crash.
Brian O'Shea
Ceist:
40
Mr. O'Shea
asked the
Minister for Public Enterprise
if she will re-open the accident investigation into the Aer Lingus Viscount accident off Tuskar Rock, County Wexford on 24 March 1968 in view of the recent new information contained in various media reports; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[8398/98]
Brian O'Shea
Ceist:
48
Mr. O'Shea
asked the
Minister for Public Enterprise
the action, if any, she has taken to investigate recent new information contained in various media reports relating to the Aer Lingus Viscount accident off Tuskar Rock, County Wexford on 24 March 1968; if she will publish the results of any investigations; if she will take whatever action is appropriate following these investigations; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[8399/98]
John Gormley
Ceist:
55
Mr. Gormley
asked the
Minister for Public Enterprise
the contact, if any, her Department has had with the British authorities regarding new information being made available in relation to the Tuskar Rock air crash of thirty years ago.
[8225/98]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 40, 48 and 55 together.
The Deputy is aware of the thorough investigation carried out by my Department into this tragic accident, the report of which was published in 1970 and a copy of which is in the Dáil Library.
The final conclusion of the report is as follows:
There is not enough evidence available on which to reach a conclusion of reasonable probability as to the initial cause of this accident.
I offer my sympathy to the families of the victims of this tragedy and to the colleagues of the Aer Lingus crew.
It is always unsatisfactory when an accident investigation fails to establish clearly the cause of the accident. I appreciate that it is particularly difficult for the families and friends of the victims of such an accident to come to terms with their loss.
I will now turn to the Deputy's questions. If by new information the Deputy is referring to recent television and newspaper articles regarding the possible involvement of another aircraft, missile or airborne object, and to activities of the Royal Navy in the crash area, then I would specifically refer to the section of the report where such a possibility is discussed.
The report states:
"that while Viscount EI-AOM was in normal cruising flight at 17,000' and within 6 minutes of reaching Strumble Head, another aircraft, which could have been a manned or unmanned aeroplane or a missile, passed in close proximity, possibly even colliding with the tail of the Viscount, causing an upset which led to a manoeuvre which was either a spin or a spiral dive from which the Viscount was recovered in a disabled condition, to fly thereafter for approximately 10 minutes over the sea before control was finally lost.
The other aircraft could have been the one seen over Fethard-on-sea, and might have fallen in the sea near the Saltee Islands.
In considering this very speculative theory, attention must be given to a number of matters which discount it's credibility.
These include the fact that no aircraft, civil or military, manned or unmanned, were reported, or known to have been in the area at the relevant times, nor was any aircraft other than EI-AOM reported missing on that day.
The missile and target ranges on the Welsh coast are closed on Sundays, and were known to be inoperative on Sunday, 24 March 1968.
No aircraft carriers were operating in the area.
The altitude of 17,000' at which EI-AOM was cruising is considered unlikely to be used by military aircraft.
The manoeuvre of recovering a loaded Viscount aeroplane from a spin or a spiral dive would require a very remarkable feat of airmanship on the part of the pilots.
In fact there is only one known case in which this was effectively accomplished during a test flight by expert test pilots. Even in that case, the airframe suffered some distortion of the tail unit.
It is difficult to account for the lack of communications during the presumed 10 minutes before the final catastrophe. The aircraft may have been too low for V.H.F. communication with ground stations, but if there were transmissions they should have been picked up by other aircraft.
On account of these matters, the hypothesis must remain in the realm of speculation and on present evidence cannot be given a higher status than a remote possibility".
I draw attention to this report and to the detailed appendices to the report which have, since the publication of the report, been available for inspection by interested parties. These appendices, numbering in excess of 150 pages, give details of: (1) the search and recovery operation; (2) transcripts of tape recordings of radio exchanges between the Viscount St. Phelim and the Air Traffic Control service of Cork, Shannon and London; (3) meteorological data; (4) investigation of the recovered wreckage: (a) Airframe; (b) Engines and propellers; (5) investigation of Auto Pilot; (6) summary of witness statements, maps of witnesses locations; (7) photographs.
These records, which have been available since 1970 in my Department, illustrate the great lengths to which the officials of my Department, at the time, went to establish the cause of this accident.
It is important to make clear that the purpose of aircraft accident investigation, which like all international aviation activity is governed by the International Civil Aviation Convention (ICAO), specifically Annex 13 to the convention, is to try to establish the cause of the accident, in order to prevent a similar accident or a reoccurrence. It is not the purpose of the investigation to establish blame or liability.
A large passenger aircraft accident is an international event by it's very nature and consequently several states may have rights and obligations, i.e. the state of manufacture, the state of registry.
In the case of the St. Phelim, Ireland as the state of operator and as the state of registry was responsible under International Convention for holding an investigation and publishing a report. This we have done.
In carrying out this obligation, help in the search phase of the operation was given by the UK in accordance with the international convention.
At the time, our own Naval Service had only three Corvettes. Only one was at sea at the time of the accident, off Donegal, and as soon as possible she assumed the role of co-ordinator.
The salvage operation was Ireland's responsibility under international convention. This operation was conducted with the assistance of ships of the Royal Navy which were considered, at the time, to present the best, if not the only, possibility of locating and recovering the wreckage.
This, regrettably, took a long time and unfortunately the fuselage of the aircraft, which may have been of considerable help in establishing the cause of this accident, was not recovered intact.
The wreckage lay in a depression on the sea bed in 42 fathoms with the surrounding area at 39 fathoms, or over 250 feet down. Recovery of the wreckage was a difficult and dangerous task.
The Deputy will recall the publicity surrounding the recent fatal accident to TWA 800 off the coast of Long Island.
Despite all the sophistication of present day technology and at an estimated expenditure of 125 million dollars, the investigation has not established the cause of the accident in which over 200 people lost their lives.
My Department has consistently done all that was possible to establish the cause of the loss of the Viscount and more importantly the loss of 61 lives so tragically 30 years ago.
My Department has always examined any new information as it became available. It did so on several occasions since 1970, including the examination of parts of target aircraft dredged up in 1974 and 1978.
However there was nothing found which could positively be linked to the loss of the St. Phelim.
I would refer the House again to the passage in the report which I quoted earlier, which states:
These include the fact that no aircraft, civil or military, manned or unmanned, were reported, or known to have been in the area at the relevant times, nor was any aircraft other than EI-AOM reported missing on that day.
The missile and target ranges on the Welsh coast are closed on Sundays, and were known to be inoperative on Sunday 24 March 1968.
No aircraft carriers were operating in the area".
These statements were reaffirmed by UK Officials to my Department by letter in November 1974.
I am willing to republish the report of the investigation and its appendices and to make copies of these documents available in the Oireachtas Library. However, in the absence of significant new evidence, I am not persuaded to reopen the investigation.
Should such new evidence become available, I, like all my predecessors, would be more than willing to have such evidence examined.
