What happened
On the morning of the accident, a Vickers Viscount departed from Dublin at 06:44 GMT. The purpose of the flight was to conduct a pilot conversion training session under an IFR flight plan. The instructor's itinerary included two hours of flight time within a sector northwest of Dublin, followed by one hour dedicated to practicing circuits and landings.
During the operation, observers on the ground witnessed the aircraft enter a vertical dive while at a low altitude. The subsequent impact resulted in a post-crash fire. There were three fatalities among the crew members, with no survivors reported.
Findings
Investigations into the crash identified that the aircraft entered an unintentional stall and an incipient spin. Because the maneuver occurred at such a low altitude, there was insufficient time or capability for the crew to recover the aircraft. While the specific triggers for the loss of control could not be definitively determined, the flight behavior indicated that the aircraft was no longer under the control of the instructor during its final moments.