On a seemingly ordinary Sunday, March 24, 1968, Aer Lingus Flight 712, code-named Stardust Oscar Mike, departed Cork Airport, Ireland, bound for London’s Heathrow. The routine flight was expected to last a mere eighty minutes. Aboard the four-engine aircraft were 57 passengers and a four-person crew, including a seasoned 35-year-old captain with 6,600 flying hours and his 22-year-old co-pilot with 900 hours of experience. The skies were clear, the winds calm, and the captain wished his passengers a pleasant journey. Yet, just half an hour later, Oscar Mike plunged into the sea, becoming one of the most perplexing mysterious plane crashes in aviation history.
A Routine Flight Takes a Horrifying Turn
The flight’s initial ascent was uneventful. Within five minutes of takeoff, the aircraft climbed to 7,000 feet, then continued to 17,000 feet. The captain made a routine call to ground control. Twenty-five minutes into the flight, he was instructed to switch his radio frequency from Cork Airport to Heathrow, where he would receive further instructions. Cork Air Traffic Control then disconnected from Oscar Mike, and communication responsibility shifted to Heathrow, which was bustling, directing dozens of planes taking off and landing in London.
The captain of Oscar Mike made a routine call to London control. Passengers were beginning to prepare for a light meal. But just eight seconds after that initial call to London, Heathrow control received another transmission. In the background, screams and wails could be heard. The captain’s voice broke through: “12,000 feet, we are descending rapidly in a spiral!” This terrifying message was the last ever received from Oscar Mike. Heathrow air traffic control desperately tried to re-establish contact with the distressed aircraft and tasked nearby planes with investigating, relaying the urgent Mayday call. The plane was still airborne, and its pilot had bravely steered it away from mountains, towards the coastline, perhaps hoping for a desperate ditching.
The Search, The Wreckage, and Lingering Questions
At 12:10 PM, the captain of a German cargo ship reported seeing a large aircraft descending rapidly and plunging into the sea. Another witness, walking on the beach, described hearing a powerful impact with the water and seeing a column of water rise near the Tuskar Lighthouse. It was this witness’s report that pinpointed the crash site, as initial search efforts that day, despite deploying rafts and speedboats, proved futile. The witness contacted the police that evening after hearing the news broadcast, relaying what he had seen and heard.
The following day, the search commenced near the rocks of Tuskar, where wreckage and 14 bodies were found floating six miles from the lighthouse. No survivors were found. The process of collecting and examining Oscar Mike’s wreckage continued for over two months. Most of the fuselage and wings were recovered, but crucially, the aircraft’s tail was missing. Months later, a piece of the tail was found among seaweed on Rosslare beach, miles from the crash site.
Unsettling Witness Accounts and Enduring Theories
As the investigation continued, new witnesses came forward, transforming the already unsolved aviation mystery into an intractable puzzle. Some reported hearing a cracking sound in the air above the Tuskar Lighthouse, followed by thunder-like explosions. Four other witnesses claimed to have seen the plane’s wings and tail glowing with a red hue. Another witness reported seeing an object amidst a black cloud with the falling aircraft, followed by an explosion sounding like thunder.
The Unanswered Question: What Brought Oscar Mike Down?
Investigations found no evidence of mechanical failure. The possibility of a bird strike or a collision with a military aircraft was ruled out, and the weather conditions were favorable. This left terrifying theories suggesting that Oscar Mike might have been bombed, or that it collided with an unknown flying object – perhaps an air-to-air missile, a flying saucer, or some other unidentified object.
Did Flight 712 crash due to an impact with its tail by a flying object? Was that object a bird, a missile, a flying saucer, or something else entirely? The truth behind the Oscar Mike disappearance remains unknown to this day, making it one of the most enduring and unsettling mysterious plane crashes in history.
