He whisked Taoisigh and Hollywood sirens around the world but Captain
Thomas McKeown's proudest moment as a pilot was bringing Pope John Paul
II to Ireland.
Yesterday, Capt McKeown celebrated his 90th birthday, the latest highlight in a glittering life and career.
Many of the old photographs from his time in the cockpit were dusted down.
They
show Capt McKeown, the former Aer Lingus chief training captain, flying
key figures such as former Taoisigh Jack Lynch and Eamon de Valera,
Archbishop of Dublin John Charles McQuaid and actresses Maureen O'Hara
and Grace Kelly.
But it is the memory of commanding the papal
flight from Rome to Dublin on September 29, 1979, that stands out --
just a month before he retired.
"As I approached the Phoenix Park, you could see the crowds," Capt McKeown said yesterday.
"It
was a beautiful morning and the Pope could look out and see the huge
number of people who had gathered to see him, and I think he was really
pleased about this."
During the flight from Italy, in the comfort
of his private cabin, Pope John Paul II dined at a table adorned with
freshly-cut red roses where he enjoyed a plate of pudding and grilled
tomato served up on Galway bone china.
After breakfast, the Pontiff then entered the cockpit and briefly chatted with Capt McKeown and the rest of the crew.
A
report from that historic day in 1979 recalls "thousands of faithful
waving white handkerchiefs" as the shamrock green and blue jumbo jet
dropped to 2,500ft and flew over the packed Phoenix Park where a million
people waited for the Pontiff to arrive to say Mass.
During his career as a 747 captain, Capt McKeown crossed the Atlantic more than 1,000 times.
The Dublin-born pilot learnt his trade after being accepted as a cadet into the Air Corps in the late 1930s.
"Seven years as a military pilot, a period of tremendous excitement covering the war years," he said.
"The
flying standards were very exacting and thorough in an atmosphere of
great espirit de corps. We flew a great variety of aircraft types
ranging from Army Air Corps Hawker Hector up to the Hawker Hurricane
Fighters, frontline aircraft in the early years of World War Two.
"We
had many different military duties, including cutting turf in Doonbeg,
Co Clare, in the early 1940s. We were prepared and trained to defend our
neutrality. It is deplorable that the military aircraft were not
preserved for further generations to see, because they were certainly
milestones in the history of our State."
He went on to join fledgling airline Aer Lingus in May 1945.
"My first flight as a captain had such esteemed passengers as Eamon de Valera and Henry Ford," he recalled.
Capt
McKeown worked with St Vincent de Paul after he reluctantly retired in
1979 from the airline as was mandatory before he turned 60.
SIC: II/IE