WHITEHALL "SPOOKS" KEY TO AIRLINER LOSS - January 1999

Sixty eight people, all on board, died in the incident and the top secret establishment then in its cold war heyday has long been suspected of involvement. The Celtic League campaign to retrieve information has drawn support from members of both the British and Irish Parliaments. Dafydd Wigley, one of the group of MPs who have campaigned to secure the truth of the incident, asked the British Department of Transport (in March 1998) to release papers about the crash. Astonishingly Junior Transport Secretary, Glenda Jackson, said the papers had been "destroyed".That the papers should be "destroyed" at a time when there was a new focus on the crash beggars belief and this taken with the "disappearance" of log books from three British naval vessels at the aircraft crash site is highly suspect.

Despite the best efforts of various sections of the British establishment to eliminate all evidence of the crash or the subsequent recovery operation there is however one repository where detailed records will be kept and will be intact. It is inconceivable, given the slow political decline under-way in N. Ireland in the late 1960s, that the whole area of Anglo-Irish relations was not under scrutiny. The British Intelligence Services must have taken a keen interest in the potential political embarrassment of any link or suspected link of the military establishment at Aberporth to the crash. Also the fact that Britains' hush-hush missile testing range should be placed so squarely in the frame must have also frustrated the "spooks" of Whitehall. All official reports and indeed their own military intelligence must have been collated.This material will now be mouldering in the dusty files of MI5 and/or MI6 and would be a rich source of evidence to resolve this mystery.

We are writing to Bertie Ahern and asking that he use the new detente in Anglo-Irish relations to prevail upon the Blair government to unlock the archives.

The Celtic League believe the British will be only too willing - unless that is they still have something to hide!

TIME TO LAY THE ST. PHELIM MYSTERY TO REST

The crash of Aer Lingus flight EI-712 is one of the Irish seas most enduring mysteries. Speculation has always been rife that the British missile range downed the airliner and an Irish newspaper on Sunday said that Mary O'Rourke, Irish Public Enterprise Minister, supports this theory and will confront the British ambassador. All sixty eight people on board Aer Lingus Flight 712 (EI-AOM – St Phelim) from Cork to London died when the aircraft crashed in the Irish sea off Wexford. The flight had apparently encountered difficulty when approaching the Welsh coast, turned back and crashed. The mystery was heightened by the fact that no radio contact was made, despite the fact that the crew must have been aware of the difficulty the aircraft faced. Aberporth, a top secret establishment for testing missiles, has long been "fingered" as a possible cause of the crash and pointedly the official Irish government enquiry did not rule out the involvement of an aircraft or missile from the range

Despite persistent denials that the range was operational, suspicions have continued and British protestations of innocence have not been helped by the disappearance in 1993 of a number logs, from ships at the crash site.

The decision of the British Department of Transport in 1994 to "trash"its report - which had not been published - into the crash also is a cause for concern.

The disappearance of this evidence coincided with renewed efforts, by both relatives and the Celtic League, to kick start a new enquiry into the crash. The rogue missile scenario is an attractive "conspiracy theory" and whilst so many questions remain unanswered cannot be ruled out. However the Celtic League in the past few months have been examining all aspects of the disaster and we believe that other factors should also be addressed by a full enquiry which the Irish government should urgently convene.

The St. Phelim was one of a batch of only nine Viscount series 803s built originally for KLM and subsequently bought by Aer Lingus.

In the previous year another of these aircraft EI - AOF crashed whilst on a training flight near Dublin in circumstances which seem to indicate that either mechanical or structural failure caused by metal fatigue occurred

The United Kingdom undoubtedly experienced problems with the construction of the new series of both military and civil aircraft in the fifties.The most publicised case was that of the four jet Comet airliner, early variants of which crashed in disastrous circumstances due to fatigue failures.

Vickers, the manufacturer of the Viscount was also not without its problems and all examples of the Valiant jet bomber, constructed in the fifties, in parallel with the Viscount were suddenly retired in1965 when only ten years old "suffering from metal fatigue".

Twenty years of examination, by the Celtic League, of the crash of the St. Phelim have taught us to keep an open mind as to its cause. One factor is however self evident and with each passing year becomes more of an imperative. A full and detailed re-examination of this crash, and all the circumstances surrounding it, is urgently warranted.

The British Ambassador to Ireland

British Embassy

31 Merrion Road

Dublin 4

Ireland

BY FAX 13/1/99

Dear Ambassador,

I write with reference to the agreement which you have reached with the Irish government for officials from both governments to review all documentation which could be useful in resolving the mysterious loss of the Aer Lingus Viscount airliner in 1968 over the south Irish sea.

Reference was made in some media reports to the British government having carried out "exhaustive and detailed investigation" in response to "repeated allegations of British involvement in the crash".I wonder if the enquiries undertaken have resulted in the British authorities locating the ships logs for Her Majesty's Ships Uplifter, Invermoriston and Hardy, all vessels that were in the area immediately after the crash.

In addition, have the British authorities been able yet to ascertain the whereabouts of the Aberporth missile range safety vessel at the time of the crash? Do the British authorities not accept that the loss of so many ships logs, of vessels involved in a single incident, is unprecedented?

Turning to relevant existing documentation - a Flight Authorisation and Flying Times log supplied to us by MOD in 1994 indicates that the day after the Aer Lingus crash a communications aircraft flew from the Llanbedr (Aberporths target support base) to Belfast returning the same day. We queried with the MOD DGTE this log in 1994 and they were insistent that no base in N. Ireland supported Aberporth operations.

We wondered if your review could ascertain the purpose of this flight.

In 1990, on our behalf, the Welsh nationalist MP, Dafydd Wigley, approached Defence Sec. Kenneth Carlisle about the operational status of Aberporth range on the weekend 23-24 March. Mr. Carlisle said the Aberporth facility was definitely closed for the weekend 23/24 March. When we queried the MOD about this the following year they again confirmed that "there were no operations of any kind during the weekend in which the aircraft disappeared". They went on "there are no records nor have there ever been for those two days". However the Range Daily Trials Summary dated 22/3/68 indicates a trail commencing that day which extends into the weekend (23/3/68). Thereafter there are additional entries with times at 1315 and 1525. However it is not clear on which date these occurred. What is however clear is that the operational status of Aberporth on that weekend is confused and we trust that your officials will review these files to determine the accurate position.

Reference is made from time to time about debris from target aircraft found in the area of Tuskar Rock. The range authorities dispute that targets or missiles on test would reach this area. In 1994 the MODDGTE advised us in correspondence 21/3/94 that "There are several examples of items recovered from the sea-bed in the vicinity of the crash site between 1968 and 1974. Many of these were identified by Llanbedr staff as coming from either Jindivik or Meteor drones". TheDGTE discounted the significance of these finds, attributing the cause to the action of tidal flow carrying them from the range site forty miles to the north east.

Will your officials investigate with the Admiralty the feasibility of, what are in some instances heavy metal debris being carried so far by natural forces? We presume, from the DGTE correspondence, that an inventory of the recovered items exists. Could this also be made public? We know, from a variety of sources including some released government files, that there were considerable problems with missile weapons testing at Aberporth. In 1995 we asked MOD DGTE for information about trials difficulties. In May 1995 DTEO, which had taken over the function of MOD DGTE, indicated it would research the matter but felt the information ight be restricted. Subsequently no information was supplied. We elieve that the performance of missile systems at the time is crucial to assessing the danger posed to aircraft flying in the vicinity of the Aberporth complex and therefore we trust your officials will review this matter and publish their findings.

Finally could your review publish detail on why the Aberporth missile range danger area, which at the time of the tragedy covered the north of Cardigan bay, was dramatically extended.

In conclusion, I would register our disappointment that the British and Irish governments did not agree to a full re-opened enquiry into this tragedy. The Irish governments difficulties are compounded by the fact that so much necessary information on the British side has been 'lost' or destroyed. The Celtic League have an open-mind as to the cause of this tragedy and I draw your attention to the attached press statement we issued at the height of some of the wilder speculation earlier this month.

We would dearly like to see question-marks over British military involvement resolved but this can only happen if your government provides honest and open information and resolves some of the contradictions in official responses to date.

Yours sincerely,

J B Moffatt - Secretary General - Celtic League

BRITISH URGED TO CLEAR UP TUSKAR CRASH AMBIGUITIES

The Celtic league have written to the British ambassador to Ireland asking that the review into the Tuskar Rock air disaster agreed with the Irish government resolve ambiguities in relation to previous responses and documentation released by the United Kingdom Although disappointed that no full new enquiry is to be held the Celtic League are anxious that any review of file sources includes all relevant information from the information already to hand.

We have therefore again raised with the British Ambassador the question of missing ships logs. We have also asked her officials to review MOD confirmed reports of the routine recovery of missile target debris in the vicinity of the Tuskar Rock in a six year period from 1968.We have also asked her to clear up conflicting official versions of the operational status of Aberporth on 23/24 March 1968 and clarify why the Aberporth range danger area was extended in the aftermath of the Aer Lingus tragedy

Copies of our correspondence have also been forwarded to MinisterMary O'Rourke.

J B Moffatt

Secretary General - Celtic League

Mr. George Robertson

Defence Secretary (United Kingdom)

Ministry of Defence

Main Building

Whitehall

October 4, 1998

Dear Mr. Robertson

Ref. Loss of Aer Lingus airliner EI-712 over the Irish sea - March24 1968.

I refer to our earlier correspondence (attached) asking specific questions about possible British military involvement in the fatal crash ofan Irish airliner we still await a reply to this.

It is disturbing, given the British governments supposed commitment to openness, that it is proving so difficult to receive straightforward answers which might help resolve the mystery surrounding the crash.

It is also disturbing that even after all this time the Ministry of Defence cannot provide an un-conflicting account of its operations on and at the crash site of the airliner. For example, in March of this year a question tabled by MP Dafydd Wigley elicited the response from your colleague Mr. John Reid that"No person,dead or alive, was picked up by naval vessels in the Irish sea on that day". How Mr. Reid could provide such a categoric answer when the log books of three of the vessels involved are still "missing"is open to question.

However, what is more astonishing is that only one month later Mr. Reids contradicted himself somewhat when, as a result of questions tabled by MP Kevin McNamara, copies of extractsfrom the logs of HMS Penelope were placed in the Library of the Houseof Commons and it is recorded that HMS Hardy (one of the ships whoselogs have been "lost" is reported to have recovered six bodies. Search aircraft are also reported to have located other bodies.

Perhaps the MOD could clarify your colleagues confusion and also provide an explanation why HMS Penelope went through the somewhat laborious and difficult process of transferring debris it had gathered at the wreck site to HMS Hardy for landing at Rosslare.

Yours sincerely

J B Moffatt

Secretary General