The son of the Tuskar Rock plane pilot has told how his family suffered abuse after the disaster.
Aer Lingus flight 712, piloted by Barney O’Beirne, crashed at Tuskar Rock lighthouse off the Wexford coast killing all 61 people on board in March 1968.
David O’Beirne said his mother and family suffered relentless finger-pointing over the worst Irish aircraft crash in aviation history. He said: “Because of the lack of facts, conspiracies came to life.
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“There was abuse, threats and intimidation against my mum and other staff members which was completely unfair and unfounded.
“People were blaming the pilot and co-pilot for what happened. For my mum, it was excruciatingly tough.
“After my Dad died, she was out for dinner. Someone slapped her and said, ‘How dare you… and your husband responsible for all those deaths’.”
A new documentary asks why the Vickers Viscount which took off from Cork Airport bound for London crashed.
The third investigation in 2002 concluded the crash was probably due to metal fatigue but ruled out the involvement of missiles.
David said: “People will say your dad was very brave trying to land that plane. I didn’t need to know that, he was always brave.”
The Tuskar Rock Tragedy is on RTE One Monday at 9.35pm.
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