Incident
On 24 March 1968, Aer Lingus Flight 712, a Vickers Viscount 803 registration EI-AOM, departed Cork Airport at 10:32 en route to London. The flight was cleared via airways to flight level 170 (17,000 ft). At 10:38, clearance on course to Tuskar was given. At 10:40, the flight reported over Youghal at 7,500 ft climbing. Cork ATC suggested routing direct to Strumble, but no acceptance was received. At 10:57, the flight reported over Bannow at flight level 170, estimating Strumble at 03 minutes past the hour. The flight was instructed to change to London frequency 131.2, acknowledged at 10:57:29. At 10:58:02, London Radar intercepted a garbled call later confirmed as "Echo India Alpha Oscar Mike with you". Eight seconds later, a call was interpreted as "Five thousand feet descending spinning rapidly" (later reinterpreted as possibly "twelve"). This was the last transmission.
Search and Recovery
At 11:10, London ATC informed Shannon of no contact. At 11:13, another Aer Lingus aircraft was requested to search west of Strumble, descending to 500 ft in good visibility but saw nothing. A full alert was declared at 11:25. At 12:36, a report from the UK indicated wreckage sighted at 51°57'N, 06°10'W, but two surface vessels nearby saw nothing. The Irish Air Corps dispatched a Dove and a helicopter. Ten UK aircraft joined the search. The reported sighting was cancelled; nothing positive was found that day. On 25 March, search resumed, and at 12:41 wreckage was sighted and bodies recovered 6 nautical miles northeast of Tuskar Rock, with more wreckage scattered northwest. A total of 13 bodies were eventually recovered, along with light wreckage including cabin furnishings, seat cushions, and parts of the port main landing gear. One additional body was recovered later. The main wreckage remained undiscovered despite sonar searches. On 5 June 1968, trawlers recovered positively identifiable wreckage near Tuskar Rock, confirmed by divers. Salvage operations located a major portion of the aircraft.
Wreckage Analysis
The aircraft was totally demolished by violent impact with the sea. About 60–65% by weight was recovered, including major parts of three engines, parts of the fourth, all four propellers, almost complete wing structure, and fin and rudder. No evidence of fire or explosion. No tail planes or elevators were recovered except small portions of trim tabs and spring tabs. Extensive damage throughout.
Findings
Two witnesses placed the crash between 11:10 and 11:15 near Tuskar Rock. The official probable cause: insufficient evidence to determine the initial cause; the probable cause of the final impact was impairment of aircraft controllability in the fore and aft (pitching) plane. Subsequent reviews examined hypotheses including structural fatigue, flutter, corrosion, bird strike, and possible engine fuel control sensitivity. The 2001 International Study Team concluded that excessive spring tab free play may have led to fatigue failure inducing tailplane flutter, and that there was no involvement of another aircraft or missile.