Family claim pilot is the victim of a miscarriage of justice

THE family of a pilot of an Aer Lingus plane blamed for a crash near Birmingham airport 50 years ago maintains he is the victim of a miscarriage of justice, despite the results of a fresh inquiry which held him responsible for the accident.

The late Capt Thomas J Hanley was the captain of an Aer Lingus Dakota DC3 aircraft, the St Kieran, which was forced to crash land on a farm near Birmingham on New Year’s Day 1953 when both engines cut out. Only the co-pilot among the crew of three and 22 passengers received any injuries.

The pilot was given a lifetime flying ban by the Minister for Industry and Commerce after an official inquiry held that he had mistakenly connected both engines to one fuel tank which ran dry. It found that both pilots should have known the reason for the loss of power and taken proper remedial action.