New perspective on Shannon tragedy

PREVIOUSLY unpublished pictures have emerged of the aftermath of a plane crash at Shannon on September 10, 1961 in which more than 80 people were killed.

Initial reports of the crash suggested that 82 people were killed but The Clare Champion of September 16 had the final figure of 83.

Those who died were travelling from Dusseldorf to Chicago and were German, Swiss, Austrian, Finnish and American.

“The crash in which the entire crew and passengers lost their lives occurred in a place called the Silver Strand, which is about two miles from the airport, early on Sunday morning when a chartered D6 airliner belonging to President Airlines plunged into the muddy reaches of the Shannon Estuary immediately after taking off for Chicago,” The ’Champion report stated.

It said that the crash occurred very shortly after taking off from Shannon for the second leg of the journey.

“It [the flight] had been organised by a German steel company and the people on board were mostly agriculturists. When the aeroplane landed at Shannon on Saturday night, there were 76 passengers on board and a crew of six. A new crew, again of six, then took charge and the passengers’ complement was increased when another passenger joined the plane.

“The aircraft arrived at Shannon at 9.50pm on Saturday and left at 3.51am on Sunday. The crash occurred about a minute-and-a-half after take-off and the aircraft came down in the Shannon Estuary about two miles from the airport, as the crow flies.”

The ’Champion report included a summary of evidence given at an inquest by Dr William Flynn, who carried out 45 post mortems.

“The injuries were very, very severe and in many cases the body was fragmented. In others, the lower part of the body was divided completely from the upper, while there were some bodies where the head had been completely destroyed or was absent altogether. On many occasions, he saw that the chest had been crushed.”

Given the huge loss of life, the crash made headlines around the world and The New York Times carried a report on the disaster, which gave some details of the Shannon response.

“Shannon Airport declared a full emergency and sent launches to the crash site, three miles east of the airport.

“But rescue workers were hampered by the early morning darkness and first reports said the huge craft had sunk almost immediately.”

It also said that all hospitals in the region were put on alert. The 1961 crash was the fifth fatal one at Shannon in seven years, with 176 people killed in the other four.