THIS year marks 70 years since the KLM Triton Crash in Shannon, County Clare, writes Laurel Hill Secondary School pupil Bonnie Moloney.
That fateful day deserves to be acknowledged as a mark of respect for the lives that were lost that day seven decades ago, September 5, 1954.
Vincent Power is a Limerick-born, award-winning journalist and author who spent his career with the Irish Examiner and Evening Echo newspapers in Cork, and Peter McGarry, a filmmaker and aviation enthusiast, and author of Fallen Stars, a history of plane crashes in Shannon in the 1940 and 1950s, have teamed up to recount the story of the fateful crash.
The pair have documented the Triton’s story in a YouTube documentary that takes a deep dive into the tragedy.
Former reporter Vincent Power is known for one of his most famous stories on the Concorde plane crash in Paris back in 2006.
Sign up for the weekly Limerick Post newsletter
The duo’s documentary follows the tragic day in Shannon that ended in catastrophe for the 46 passengers and 10 crew members on board the Triton, which was supposed to find its way to New York from its starting destination at Amsterdam, stopping off at Shannon to refuel for the rest of the long flight ahead.
Take off from Shannon was planned for 2.30 am, Power and McGarry outline. However 45 seconds later, chaos ensued as the Triton crashed on the mud flats of the Shannon River, about 2,500m from the end of the runway.
It is believed the crash was caused by an unexpected re-extension of the landing gear, possibly compounded by a tragic error by the pilot.
The aircraft was partly submerged, with the cabin filled with fuel fumes, which caused those passengers still in it to become unconscious and drown in the incoming tide.
A full account of the fateful day can be found on YouTube, titled ‘The KLM Triton Tragedy at Shannon 70 Years On: A Reflection’.
