The golden jubilee of the first non stop flight across the Atlantic is celebrated in Connemara.
On 15 June 1919 at approximately 8.40 am British aviators Captain John W Alcock and Lieutenant Arthur Whitten Brown landed in Derrigimlagh Bog near Clifden, County Galway.
The two men had departed from St John's in Newfoundland some sixteen hours earlier in a double engine Vickers-Vimy biplane. They became the first aviators to successfully fly non-stop from North America to Europe.
Inclement weather was a consistent feature of their flight, and their journey was affected. On six occasions it was necessary for Lieutenant Arthur Whitten Brown to leave the cockpit and,
Climb precariously onto the wings of the old bomber and clear the ice that had got stuck in the intake.
Two Canadian pilots, Eugene Locke, president of Aviation Services International and Thomas Lee from the Royal Trust Company of Canada conducted a commemorative flight on the Alcock and Brown route in a Piper Navajo plane.
Their original plan was to fly over Clifden at the same time Alcock and Brown had landed there, but poor weather conditions resulted in them flying first to Shannon and then on to Clifden. They are warmly welcomed by local people and aviation enthusiasts who had gathered at Aillebrack beach near Clifden.
A fly-pass over the Alcock and Brown's landfall site was part of the commemorative ceremonies.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 15 June 1969. The reporter is Micheál Ó Briain.
