Aer Lingus Flight 712 crashed en route from Cork to London on 24 March 1968, killing all 61 passengers and crew.

[1][2][3] Causes proposed in several investigative reports include possible impact with birds, a missile or target drone, or mechanical and structural failures.

[8] The flight crew included Captain Bernard O'Beirne,[9] 35, who had joined Aer Lingus after three years in the Air Corps.

These include a crew member of the British ship HMS Penelope who alleged that part of the recovered wreckage was removed to the UK.

[15] However, in 2002, a review process conducted by the Air Accident Investigation Unit disclosed that Aer Lingus paperwork relating to a routine maintenance inspection carried out on the aircraft in December 1967 was found to be missing in 1968.

A new board of investigation was set up by the Irish Government and found that the crash was likely the consequence of a chain of events starting with a failure to the left tail-plane caused by metal fatigue, corrosion, flutter, or a bird strike, with the most likely cause being a flutter-induced fatigue failure of the elevator trim tab operating mechanism.

Evers maintained that he had evidence that a Fouga Magister trainer accidentally collided with the Aer Lingus aircraft as it was checking the status of the Viscount's undercarriage, which he claimed had failed to lock in position correctly.

For example, Mike Reynolds, an aviator and author of Tragedy at Tuskar Rock, disputed Evers' claims and supports the findings of the 2002 French/Australian investigation – which ruled-out an impact with another aircraft or missile.

[17] This study, on which Reynolds worked as Irish assistant, concluded that the cause may have been as a result of structural failure of the aircraft, corrosion, metal fatigue, flutter, or bird strike.

The park features a stone centerpiece sculpted by Niall Deacon of Enniscorthy that is set in water with three panels signifying the portholes of the Viscount in descent, and a chain with 61 links representing the lives lost.