Australian aviation history digital archive

DerekB30/11/202223/11/2024

In its mission to preserve and promote Australia’s aviation heritage, the AHSA hosts the following digital archives. Click on the image to go to the selected archive.

CAC Factory Reports 1937 – 1943

1938 de Havilland DH.60 Moth VH-UNU operated by Australian National Airways crashed at Somerton, Victoria on 8 March 1938. The pilot was performing a solo training flight from Essendon Airport. While practising sharp turns, he lost control of the aircraft.There was 1 fatality and the aircraft was destroyed. Sources: BAAA website; aviation-safety.net website

1961 On 8 March 1961 the Minister for Civil Aviation, Senator Paltridge, tabled in Parliament the Report of the chairman of the Board of Inquiry on the accident which occurred on 10 June 1960 in the vicinity of Mackay, Queensland, to the Trans Australia Airlines Fokker Friendship F27 aircraft VH-TFB owned by Australian National Air Lines Commission. The Minister noted that "I made a public statement on the main issues covered by the report at the time I received it. However, there have been several subsequent developments which I should now mention to the parliament. The board made three recommendations. The first dealt with the installation of flight recorders in Australian airliners. The chairman observed that it was impossible to reach any firm conclusion as to the cause of the accident as there were no survivors and no means of knowing what occurred on board the aircraft during the last few minutes of the flight. The chairman added that it would have been enlightening to have had a record of the readings of the aircraft instruments and of any cockpit conversation between the pilots during those last few minutes. The board commended the efforts of the Department of Civil Aviation to foster development of a suitable flight recorder and recommended that this research should be pursued so that suitable recorders could be installed in Australian airliners at no distant date. I am, pleased to announce that technical developments in this field have now made it possible for my department to require the installation of suitable flight recorders in Australian airliners. The date of installation and the equipment to be used will be decided after consultation with the airlines and the Aeronautical Research Laboratories, which have done some very valuable research on this subject. The chairman’s report observed that there would be a legitimate objection to the installation of these recorders if the recorded material was available to operators at the conclusion of every flight. To meet this problem, the department’s specification will state that the recorder must have a device which will automatically erase all recordings of cockpit conversations at the conclusion of each successful flight. Provision will also be made for the captain to override this automatic erasure if he considers it necessary. I believe that Australia is the first country in the world actually to make it a requirement for the fitment of flight recorders which record cockpit conversations as well as instrument readings." Source: Australia, Senate, Debates, 8 March 1961, viewed 22 October 2017, <http://historichansard.net/senate/1961/19610308_senate_23_s19/>. Hansard is licensed for reuse by the Parliament of Australia under a CC-BY-NC-ND licence.

1973 Hughes 369HS VH-UHO operated by Airfast Services P/L crashed 26 miles north-north-west of Coolgardie, WA on 8 March 1973. The helicopter had been making multiple short flights for a sediment sampling project. Conditions in the area were hot and dry and at each take off and landing the rotor wash raised targe quantities of dust. On this occasion the passengers re-boarded the aircraft and a normal take-off and climb-out was made to a height of some 100-150 feet. The aircraft was accelerating through about 60 knots, above trees and towards a clear area which was to be the next landing point, when a loss of engine power occurred. The pilot lowered the collective pitch control and commenced a descent in an endeavour to reach the clear area ahead. He transmitted a distress radio call and, at a height of about 40 feet, the engine stopped completely. At a lower height the pilot attempted to check the forward speed and to arrest the descent, but his efforts had little effect and the aircraft struck the ground, tail rotor first, about 120 feet short of the clear area. The landing skids then touched down heavily, breaking off, and the aircraft subsequently came to rest in an almost upright attitude, some 70 feet beyond the point of initial impact. Three of the occupants left the aircraft unassisted and found the left hand rear seat passenger lying some 12 feet beyond the main wreckage. He later died from his injuries. Subsequent examination of the engine revealed that it had been considerably affected by dust ingestion and the first stage turbine rotor blades were damaged by overheating. Sources: ATSB; aviation-safety.net website

1981 Avionautia Rio M-100S glider VH-GXF crashed at Gympie, QLD on 8 March 1981. The glider was winch-launched on Runway 14, into a surface wind of about 7 knots. The take-off was normal and the tow cable was released at a height of approximately 1400 feet above ground level. About 10 minutes later the glider was observed on a left downwind leg for runway 14 at an estimated height of 450 to 500 feet. The glider then banked steeply to the left and completed three full turns, as if attempting to climb in a thermal. However, there was apparently no gain in height and onewitness estimated some 50 feet was lost in the turns. The glider was again straightened onto the downwind leg but its speed appeared low. It then stalled and entered a left spin. The spin was stopped after one turn, at a height of approximately 300 feet, but the glider then entered a spiral dive to the left which continued to theg round. Impact was in a steep nose-down attitude, 240 metres to the northeast of the runway. There was 1 fatality and the aircraft was destroyed. Sources: ATSB; aviation-safety.net website

1987 Bellanca 8KCAB VH-SFK crashed at Schofields Airport, NSW on 8 March 1987. The pilot intended to conduct a practice aerobatic flight, and had arranged for an observer on the ground to monitor and assess his performance. The planned sequence was commenced, but the observer noted that the second manoeuvre was not completed satisfactorily, and the aircraft apparently stalled while inverted. After recovering from this situation, further manoeuvres were carried out. Other witnesses suggested that the entries to some of these manoeuvres were performed at higher "G" loadings than normal. The aircraft subsequently entered a spiral dive, which was continued without any apparent effort being made to effect recovery. The aircraft maintained the spiral until it collided with power lines, then impacted the ground. A fierce fire broke out and consumed the wreckage. A detailed investigation failed to discover any defect or malfunction with the aircraft or its systems which might have contributed to the accident. The pilot had been in current practice for aerobatic flight, and there was no evidence of any physical illness or incapacity which might have affected his ability to control the aircraft. However, it was evident that the aircraft was not under control during the spiral dive. It was considered possible that the pilot might have lost consciousness as a result of either a rapid increase in "G", or sustained high "G" loads applied during the preceding aerobatic sequence. There was 1 fatality and the aircraft was destroyed. Sources: ATSB; aviation-safety.net website

1990 Magna Liset set a record for "Speed over a recognised course" (Powered Aeroplanes, C-1b, Landplanes: take off weight 500 to 1000 kg) of 259.17 km/h on 8 Mar 1990 in a Rutan Long-EZ during a flight from Brisbane to Perth. Source: FAI Records website, ID=12135

2004 Grob G102 Astir Club Standard-77 VH-KYQ crashed at Tandarra, VIC on 8 March 2004. The aircraft had flown from Boort in a south-easterly direction towards Raywood. The ATSB did not conduct an investigation on the scene. There was 1 fatality and the aircraft was destroyed. Sources: ATSB; aviation-safety.net website