Staines air crash 50 years ago a ‘great loss to Ireland’

The Staines air crash disaster that killed 118 people in England 50 years ago, including several prominent Irish businessmen, was a “great loss to Ireland”, the widow of one of those killed has said.

A British European Airways flight crashed in the town of Staines on June 18th, 1972, shortly after taking off from London Heathrow en route to Brussels, killing all on board.

Twelve Irish businessmen were on the flight travelling to Brussels for meetings following Ireland passing a referendum to join the European Economic Community (EEC), which later became the European Union.

The Irish businessmen were members of a group from the Confederation of Irish Industry, Córas Trachtála and the Dublin Chamber of Commerce, who were travelling to Brussels for discussions with EEC officials.

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Michael Sweetman, one of those killed in the crash, had been heavily involved in the referendum as director of the Irish Council for the European Movement.

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His widow, Barbara Sweetman Fitzgerald, said the crash was “terribly devastating” for the country. Mr Sweetman was 36 and the family had several children.

On the evening of the accident the family learned of the crash on the radio, she said. Later that night taoiseach Garret FitzGerald came to the family’s home to express condolences, along with John Hume, she said.

The former Fine Gael leader had been a good friend of Mr Sweetman, and Mr Hume had happened to be visiting Mr FitzGerald in Dublin at the time.

The loss was particularly hard for the family’s oldest daughters, who were twins, Ms Sweetman Fitzgerald said. “They were so proud of him, going around listening to him when he was speaking in the referendum,” she said.

Ms Sweetman Fitzgerald said one of the things that helped her get through the period was the fact Bloody Sunday had happened earlier that year. “I remember thinking if all those people had suffered like that, I could suffer too,” she said.

The crash took the lives of “so many good people” who were all leaders in their fields, she said.

“It’s weird to think that 50 years have gone by. It’s nice that it is being remembered because it was such a great loss to Ireland,” she said.

In a statement to mark the anniversary, Minister of State for European Affairs Thomas Byrne said: “I want to offer my deepest condolences to the families of all the victims of the 1972 Staines air disaster on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the tragedy.

“It is particularly sad that those Irish business leaders who lost their lives in the Staines Air disaster did so when Ireland was on the cusp of the sweeping change that we have witnessed over the last 50 years. The victims of the crash carried with them to Brussels the best of that new Irish and European dual identity - an identity that was courageous, generous and forward-looking.”

The 12 Irish people killed were Melville Miller, managing director of Rowntree-Mackintosh; C A Smith, president of the Confederation of Irish Industry; E J Gray, director-general of the CII; Hugh Kilfeather, Córas Trachtála; Michael Rigby-Jones, Irish Ropes Ltd; Michael Sweetman, Irish Council for the European Movement; Guy Jackson of Arthur Guinness; E A Coleman, Irish Steel Holdings; M W O’Reilly, Dublin Chamber of Commerce; O M Lochrin, vice-president of the Association of Chambers of Commerce of Ireland; F M Mooney; and Ivan Webb, chairman of the Council of the Federated Union of Employers and managing director of G T Crampton.