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THE IRISH NAVY today marked the 30th anniversary of Air India Flight 182.
At 8.13am on the 23 June 1985, Air India Flight 182 exploded just off the coast of Cork.
The Boeing 747-237B, was blown up by a bomb at an altitude of 9,400 metres and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean while in Irish airspace.
All 329 passengers and crew were killed – including 280 Canadians, 27 British citizens and 22 Indians. The flight had over 80 children on board.
131 bodies were recovered from the sea. It was one of the biggest operations in the history of the State to recover the bodies which was undertaken by the Irish Navy.
The L.É. AISLING navy ship, under the command of Lieutenant Commander James Robinson, was one of the first vessels on scene.
The Irish Navy Service said it immediately began the grim process of a search and recovery operation.
After 24 hours, the L.É. AISLING had recovered 38 victims from shark infested waters and four of the Ship’s Company, Lt Cdr James Robinson, Petty Officer Seaman Mossie Mahon, Leading Seaman John Mc Grath and Able Seaman Terry Browne would be awarded Distinguished Service Medals for their actions during that operation.
The RAF, the Royal Navy and lots of locals also helped with the search and rescue attempts. It was one of the worst terrorist attack in Canadian history.
Flight 182 was en route from Toronto to Delhi, with a stopover in London. However, while in Irish airspace the aircraft disappeared off radar.
Initially it was not known what the cause of the accident was, but it was soon determined that a bomb was planted on board.
This morning an Irish Naval vessel held a one minutes silence by a long blast on the ships horn to commence a period of quiet contemplation by the visiting relatives of the victims and those who assisted in the recovery operation.
The Irish Navy Service said that many of the victim’s relatives congregated in the small village called Ahakista in West Cork, which was the nearest point of land to the crash site.
Since that terrible day, the families have made an annual pilgrimage to the shoreline memorial to remember the disaster. The support and compassion extended to the pilgrims each year by the Irish people has been a sustaining influence on those affected by the terrorist attack.
Our thoughts, prayers and support are with the families at this time.
Air India / TwitterOn the 30th memorial anniversary of the #AI 182 #KanishkaBombing tragedy, #AirIndia pays #tribute to the 329 pax who lost their lives.
— Air India (@airindia) June 21, 2015
RTÉ / Twitter#OnThisDay 1985: @RTEArchives looks back at the Air India Boeing 747 crash off the Kerry coast http://t.co/jvuKixFkCK pic.twitter.com/2RoXsuXVjB
— RTÉ (@rte) June 23, 2015
Five months after the explosion, two suspects were arrested, however, just one man was charged, Inderjit Singh Reyat, a Canadian national.
He pleaded guilty in 2003 to manslaughter. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison for building the bombs that exploded aboard Flight 182 and at Japan’s Narita Airport. Last year he lost his appeal.
In 2006 an inquiry into the bombing was launching by the Canadian Commission into the bombing of Air India Flight 182.
The final report was released 2010, and found there was a series of errors that resulted in intelligence reports of possible terror threats not being acted upon.
Every year, a remembrance ceremony is held in Cork at the memorial garden and sundial in Ahakista in County Cork.
The sundial was sculpted by Cork sculptor Ken Thompson and was donated by the people of Canada, India and Ireland.
Last night award-winning Canadian poet, Renée Sarojini Saklikar, spoke at the West Cork Arts Centre. Saklikar lost her aunt and uncle on the Air India flight.
Speaking to the Southern Star Newspaper she said her family will never forget the compassionate care given to us by the people of Cork, in the days just after the bombing.
First published 06.03am
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Sounds crazy that they are not given access. Should they not inherit access? That said, can they not get access to read the FB pages from a friends account?
@Nick Allen: probably wants to read the private messages
@Nick Allen: it’s sounds tragic that her parents are in the situation but from an outside point of view the girls friends and contacts also have a right to privacy. It’s an unfortunate case but a ruling I would back. Definitely not a position I would every want to be in as a family member
@ChuckE: so u back tbe ruling but do not agree to it in your case. hmmm
@Nick Allen: An individuals personal information remains their property even after they die. It’s like medical records – family are not automatically entitled to access a loved one’s records just because that person died. Your private data belongs to you.
@Tom Tom: the order doesn’t recognise the dead daughter’s right to privacy. She doesn’t have one, as she doesn’t exist anymore and any rights to privacy died with her. The issue here is actually the privacy of others who are not deceased who may want to have their conversations with the dead daughter protected from the eyes of her parents or their own parents or whomever.
@Bernard Cantillon: ah, I see. That’s nuts. I would have thought the rights of the deceased should be paramount.
@Nick Allen: the existing legislation applies only to living individuals so it doesn’t apply to her but I don’t understand why they can’t redact her contacts and the recipients of any messages she sent personal data and give the family the closure they need.
I kind of favour it.
I think people should be able to tick an option granting access if they die.
@Paul: There is an option to nominate an “heir” to your account .
@Davin Ryan: Davin is correct, which is why this decision is unlikely to be overturned. It’s a tricky subject but when you compare it to the true context, that nothing is bringing that person back, then I think it might be proper that the balance rests on the privacy of those remaining.
You can sign a person up to your page as a back up, in case something ever happens to you. Just FAct of the day.
@Rosie Murray: Cool tip! Very good to know.
@Rosie Murray: I think the legacy contact feature is relatively new and this girl died 5 years ago I think
@Rosie Murray: you’re beautiful
@Mick Mulligan: smooth
Fffg ing Shame on FaceBook. This was their daughter Ff s. Beyond belief what corporate entities will go to in the face of normal humanity. Condolances to these parents who lost a little girl they raised for 15 years only to be faced with the Col Face of Corporate FaceBook.
@gregory: It is tragic. I don’t see why Facebook can’t give them a redacted copy of her account. I certainly do see why grieving parents should not be in a position to seek impossible answers from a group of 15-year olds who have lost a friend. I was around that age when a schoolfriend died. Our class went to the funeral. All we expected was to say “Sorry for your loss.” These parents could well go further, asking why, and dissecting every chat. Of course the online connections need to be shielded from that.
She is dead and gone and beyond caring . I don’t see why her parents can’t access her account. Protecting the privacy of a deceased individual is just pointless in this situation. It no longer affects them and it could mean a lot to her parents who are searching for answers.
Facebook is a cult that drives families apart.
How can a person’s Facebook page be compared to a diary ?
@Suzie Sunshine: very easy. In this day n age a facebook account is very similar to a diary account before social media. Get with the times
@Suzie Sunshine: It reflects via a timeline and entries what a person has been doing. It’s not that hard to get your head around it.
@Tariq Ibn Ziyad: Her timeline would sure but PMs? would not be comparable to a diary. They could view her timeline without needing access to the account itself.
@Sue Sue: Hardly similar. I didn’t see any trout pouts or dinner pics in Anne Franks diary.
@Tariq Ibn Ziyad: I’m well aware of what it entails .. my point was that a diary is usually where you write your personal thoughts and its not what you’d usually post on Facebook ..
@Sue Sue: it’s nothing like a diary .
@Suzie Sunshine: well, having said that Susie. A Facebook page is quite public. Where diaries are mainly personal and private, so if diaries can be inherited then surely something more public should be.
@BatMon: I agree with that .. I think the family should be able to have access .
There are actually too few rights for parents in Germany. For example, parents are not allowed to home-school their children in Germany. They must send them to formal schools approve by the state. This is actually a still-enforced legacy of the National Socialist era (1933-1945), when the Nazis wanted every child to think in the way that the state wanted them to think, and not necessarily to receive the education that their own parents wanted them to receive.
@John Reid: So what? I think it’s way better than kids being home schooled and being taught god knows what!
Also, school is compulsory in most European countries, including Ireland!
Judge should know that the parents have a moral right to know!
@oliverjumelle: They have no right to read her private messages and invade her friends privacy!
Deutschland ist verrukt. Germany is crazy.
@gregory:
Aber wieso?? Warum denken Sie so? Stimmen Sie zu mit dem Gesetz oder nicht?? Und warum sprechen wir auf Deutsch? So viele Frage, zu wenig Zeit. Na ja, mindestens kann ich unsere neue Amtsprache üben….
Tut mir Leid, mir ist langweillig
@DonalC: halte den Mund
Legacy contact, it already is a feature on Facebook .selected can’t see chats but gets access to a version of your page . As a memory . Check settings , I set this a while back
They should be allowed access, the girl was a minor when she died.
The coroner would need access to determine the cause of death.
If anyone thinks that they have any privacy while using facebook they are delusional.
I had to close someone’s
I had to close a persons Facebook account recently , well get it memorialised actually. You have to supply a photo of the death cert. Whoever got this girls page memorialised had to have had access to it. Strange as you’d imagine that would be the parents. It should only be next of kin that get to close it. I only had to say my relationship to the person with Facebook. They never asked for proof of who I was
@Lucy Legacy: Eh Facebook themselves memorialised the page
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