AHSA Monthly Meeting 16 Sep 2020 (Derek Buckmaster: The Wirraway “Newspaper War”)

16/09/202027/12/2022

Derek Buckmaster gave a presentation on The Wirraway “Newspaper War”.

The AHSA September monthly meeting was held online via Zoom. A recording of the meeting is included below (click the image below to view the video):

1942 On his first flight back in the air after being grounded for 2 weeks for flying under the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Lieutenant Frank Stiertz of the 7th Pursuit Squadron of the 49th Pursuit Group, 5th Air Force USAAF was practising touch-and-go landings at Bankstown airfield on 14 March 1942, when his right wing tip clipped a grader and the plane stalled. The plane crashed and caught fire. Stiertz died due to asphyxiation from the steaming glycol fumes. Sources: Visit Sydney website; Ozatwar website

1945 USAAF C-47A-25-DK Douglas Dakota aircraft, #42-93505, c/n 13424, of the 13th Air Force, crashed into Bathurst Bay approximately 2 miles south of Cape Melville on 14 March 1945 after it ran low on fuel and was forced to turn back during a flight from Rockhampton to Morotai. There were 22 personnel on board the C-47. Sixteen of these passengers parachuted out of the aircraft. One of them was killed when his parachute failed to open. The remaining passengers and the crew of two were picked up safely after ditching with the aircraft. Source: Ozatwar website

1963 The first RAAF Mirage aircraft (A3-1) made its first flight at Bordeaux, France on 14 March 1963. The first two RAAF Mirages were entirely constructed in France. Source: Aircraft of the RAAF, RAAF History & Heritage/Big Sky Publishing, 2021.

2003 Cessna 172G VH-RPI crashed 0.3 km SE of Trefoil Island, Tasmania on 14 March 2003. The pilot of the Cessna 172G aircraft was conducting a series of charter flights between the Trefoil Island aircraft landing area and Smithton aerodrome. Witnesses stated that the aircraft, with the pilot and three passengers on board, took off from the island ALA runway 28 on a west-south-westerly track, on the third return flight of the afternoon. Witnesses reported that the aircraft turned to the left on a southerly heading while climbing, followed by a left turn to the east. They reported that following the turn to the east, and after it had overflown the buildings on the island at approximately 200 feet above ground level, the nose of the aircraft pitched up abruptly to an angle of 30-40 degrees, then the aircraft rolled abruptly to the left, lost altitude and descended from their line of sight. The witnesses heard the impact of the aircraft and ran to render assistance. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and all four occupants received fatal injuries. The investigation could not conclusively determine the reason for the excessive nose-up pitch and departure from controlled flight. Sources: ATSB; aviation-safety.net website

2013 An entire aeroplane arrived at The University of Queensland, piece by piece, to feature in the first Australian survey exhibition of collaborative artists, Claire Healy and Sean Cordeiro. Seventy cut-up metal sections of a Cessna 172 aeroplane were sent by airmail to the UQ Art Museum, through Australia Post, as one of the artworks for the exhibition Claire Healy & Sean Cordeiro, which began on April 5, 2013. UQ Art Museum director Dr Campbell Gray, said for the artwork Par Avion (2011), the Cessna parts will be re-arranged into the shape of the original plane across the gallery, its broken and reassembled parts evocative of a plane crash. “The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney, developed the exhibition Claire Healy & Sean Cordeiro, and the UQ Art Museum is the only gallery in Australia to which it will travel,” said Dr Gray, “Par Avion is an example of the artists’ interest in global travel and was inspired by novels such as Jules Verne’s Around the World in 80 Days, Jack Kerouac’s On the Road and Luigi Barzini’s Peking to Paris.” “The Cessna 172 aircraft that they acquired in Roma, Queensland, has since travelled through the postal service to the Frey Norris Contemporary & Modern Art Gallery in San Francisco, the MCA in Sydney, and now to the UQ Art Museum in Brisbane,” he said. Source: University of Queensland

2018 Eurocopter EC 135P2+ VH-ZGA operated by Heli-Aust Whitsundays / Aviator Group crashed 30 km NW of Port Hedland, WA on 14 March 2018. At about 2330 Western Standard Time, the helicopter departed Port Hedland Heliport, to collect a marine pilot from a departing bulk carrier and transfer that person back to Port Hedland. The flight was being conducted in the charter category, at night under the Visual Flight Rules (VFR). A pilot recently employed by the operator was flying the helicopter, under the supervision of a company training and checking pilot. At about 2348, while the helicopter was being operated in the vicinity of the bulk carrier, it descended and collided with the water. The training and checking pilot escaped from the helicopter and was rescued a short time later. The location of the other pilot was unknown and a search continued throughout the night and into the following day. On 17 March 2018, the helicopter wreckage was located on the seabed and the missing pilot was found inside. Sources: ATSB; aviation-safety.net website