Cleared for Disaster

Explores the mysteries and stories behind the most notorious air crashes in Ireland. In those rare instances when things do go seriously wrong in flight, the results are usually horrific. We in Ireland have had a number of unfortunate and, in some cases, unexplained incidents, with deadly results. Why did the survivors of a KLM flight spend hours fighting for their lives in the Shannon mudflats while they waited for help which never came from the airport just minutes away? What really downed the Aer Lingus Viscount at Tusker Rock? Was the US Globemaster which vanished off the Irish coast really carrying an atom bomb? In a painstakingly researched book, aviation writer Michael O'Toole explores the causes, traces the lives, tragedies, skill, bravery, heroism and possible human error involved in some of our mysterious air disasters.