Analysis: New critical details have emerged in thereport but many questions will remain unanswered, writesArthur Beesley
The report published yesterday into the Tuskar air disaster is the third since 61 people died when the Aer Lingus Viscount plane fell into the sea on March 24th, 1968. The latest study offers no definitive answers as to why the accident happened, but it clears ambiguities raised by the first investigation, completed in 1970.
As reported previously in The Irish Times, the possibility that the plane was struck by a British drone or missile has been ruled out. Many theories about a dark cover-up followed the first report, by the late Mr Richard O'Sullivan, which said there was "evidence which could be construed as indicative of the possible presence of another aircraft or airborne object in the vicinity".
This is rejected in the latest report by a Canadian expert, Mr Colin Torkington, and two Frenchmen, Mr Yves le Mercier and Mr Manuel Pech. They said: "Several attempts were made to generate consistent scenarios, but in order to be consistent, they had to deliberately ignore those parameters which should have made this scenario inconsistent, thus opening the door to pure imagination, imagination going up to the most sophisticated conspiracy theories."
The latest study runs to four volumes. In accepting the evidence of up to 46 witnesses, it said the flight track reconstruction developed by Mr O'Sullivan was flawed. The investigators noted that the evidence of witnesses was discounted in the original report.
The new flight path suggested an "initial event" over Old Parish, Co Waterford, which caused a structural failure of the tailfin on the plane, leading to a progressive loss of control. The "event" was probably caused by structural fatigue, corrosion, bird strike, or vibrations in aircraft control structures known as flutter.
The crew struggled for 30 minutes to save the plane. It was "remarkable" that they "maintained a semblance of control as long as they did". The plane passed at very low altitudes over Co Wexford before hitting the sea off Tuskar.
While a review of files conducted by the Department of Public Enterprise noted that Mr O'Sullivan never recorded that up to 30 maintenance cards from the penultimate check on the plane were missing, the latest report said the omission was unlikely to have contributed to the accident. That file review, which revealed that Mr O'Sullivan had certified the Viscount's airworthiness, was accepted in the new report.
The investigators said: "The initial event and subsequent degradation process can be accounted for from technical and operational arguments, but is to be considered of conjectural nature, since no piece of material evidence is available." The report said the file on the accident should be closed. But the Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke, said it will remain open in case any new witnesses come forward.