The final words from the Aer Lingus Viscount that crashed near Tuskar Rock in 1968 were: "12,000 feet, spinning rapidly."
They were uttered by the pilot as the plane plunged towards the sea around midday on March 24th. All 61 people on board flight EI712 died. Just 13 bodies were recovered from the water.
The fate of the flight to London from Cork has remained a mystery ever since.
The take-off at 10.30 a.m. on a sunny Sunday morning was normal. Yet within two hours, the aircraft had slammed into the sea, breaking on impact and sinking into 39 fathoms of water.
The first investigation, completed in 1970, failed to establish the cause of the disaster. But rumour has festered since then that the British military was somehow involved.
The writer of the original report, the late Mr Richard O'Sullivan, had suggested that the plane might have hit another aircraft or airborne object, or taken evasive action to avoid one.
If it was never suggested before 1970 that the St Phelim hit a stray missile or unmanned drone, speculation of a grisly cover-up endured.
At one stage, it was suggested that bodies of victims had been burned to avoid providing evidence of a missile hit.
While the British authorities always denied involvement in the tragedy, families of the dead had for 30 years sought a fresh investigation into the crash. Their wish was granted by the Government in July 2000 after a review of Irish and British files by the air accident investigation unit revealed apparent flaws in Mr O'Sullivan's report.
Chief among these was his failure to reveal that certain maintenance records were missing. The fact that Mr O'Sullivan had certified the plane's airworthiness was also deemed "unsatisfactory".
Described by the Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke, as "deeply disturbing", this review led to the appointment of two accident experts - an Australian, Mr Colin Torkington, and a Frenchman, Mr Yves le Mercier - to conduct a new investigation. Both have specialist knowledge of Viscount aircraft.
Their work is now understood to be complete. The report will be published later this month and, according to two people familiar with its contents, the missile theory will be definitively scotched.
Like Mr O'Sullivan, however, it is understood that Mr Torkington and Mr le Mercier say the exact cause of the crash cannot be established.
That morning at Tuskar, four crew and 57 passengers were lost. For their families, publication of the report from latest investigation is unlikely to provide clarity as to what exactly happened. Still, some observers believe a degree of comfort can be taken from the rejection of the missile theory.
