The Tuskar air disaster in 1968 was not caused by a British missile or unmanned drone, according to the findings of a new inquiry.
In a report which says that the exact cause of the tragedy cannot be established, investigators are understood to dismiss theories that the Aer Lingus plane was hit by a missile or drone before plunging into the sea near Tuskar Rock off the Co Wexford coast.
All 61 people on the Viscount aircraft died on the flight to London from Cork on March 24th, 1968. Only 13 bodies were recovered.
While the new report is not expected to solve the mystery surrounding the crash of the St Phelim, it is understood to suggest three possible explanations: bird strike; a maintenance-related technical problem; or a non-maintenance-related technical problem.
"Pilot error is not part of the new prognosis on this one," said a person familiar with the report.
Two informed sources said they believed the report's rejection of the missile theory was definitive. It was hoped that this would provide a degree of comfort to the families of the deceased even though the report was unlikely to provide "closure" on what caused the accident.
Commissioned by the Government in July 2000, the latest investigation was conducted by two air-crash experts, Mr Colin Torkington, from Australia, and Mr Yves le Mercier, from France. Both have specialist experience of investigations involving Viscount aircraft.
Their report is expected to be published next month. While not conclusive, it is believed to take account of factors not considered in the original investigation, which first raised the possibility of involvement by the British military in the crash. This includes the safety record of all Viscount aircraft. Of 139 Viscount crashes reported up to 1996, 66 led to fatalities. In all, 1,573 people lost their lives.
It is also understood that the investigators spoke to about five witnesses who were not interviewed in the original investigation. Some of these people were considered too young to give evidence at the time of the first investigation. A number of other people app-roached the Department of Public Enterprise after the new investigation was announced.
All original witnesses who are still alive were interviewed again and it is understood that figures at the British Ministry of Defence also spoke to the investigators.
It is thought that the investigators will state that the accounts offered by the witnesses were consistent with each other. In addition, the British witnesses are thought to have repeated to the new inquiry that there were no naval or military exercises on the day of the accident.
The cause of the crash was not explained by the initial accident report in 1970 following the original investigation, conducted by the late Mr Richard O'Sullivan.
Mr O'Sullivan's suggestion that "another aircraft or airborne object" might have struck the Viscount or caused it to take evasive action prompted the development of the missile theory. This fuelled rumours of a cover-up, although these were always denied by the British authorities.
The new investigation followed a review of Irish and British files conducted by the air accident investigation unit in the Department of Public Enterprise, which was described by the Minister, Mrs O'Rourke, as "deeply disturbing". The review revealed that Mr O'Sullivan's report failed to note the fact that maintenance records from the penultimate routine check on the plane were missing.
This was "incomprehensible", the review stated. In addition, it was "unsatisfactory" that Mr O'Sullivan had conducted the investigation despite having certified the plane's airworthiness.
