Cyclone Tracy – Aviation Historical Society of Australia

DerekB30/12/202431/12/2024

Outlook AHSA Newsletter December 2024

The December 2024 edition of Outlook / AHSA News was distributed to members recently. This edition can be read online in the viewer below....

1940 Lockheed Hudson I A16-27 operated by 23 Squadron RAAF crashed near Stradbroke Island, Qld on 12 August 1940. Operating from Archerfield airfield, the aircraft failed to return from a navigational exercise at sea. Its wireless faded out 20 minutes after takeoff, and nothing more was heard. An oil slick found 18 miles east of Jumpin Pin, between North and South Stradbroke Islands. The 6 crew members lost were PLTOFF Walter Keith Beeston (2nd pilot), FLTSGT Dudley Howard Downs, FLGOFF Mervyn Stephen Matthews (pilot), FLTSGT Hamilton James O'Gorman, LAC George Leslie Savage, and AC1 Francis John Starr. Sources: ADF-Serials; aviation-safety.net website.

1991 A Thai Airways DC-10 overshot a Sydney Airport runway to just miss an incoming Ansett Airbus A320 and a waiting Qantas Boeing 747, controlled under SIMOPS on 12 August 1991. The 667 people on board the respective aircraft were unharmed. Source: Sydney Morning Herald, 13 August 1991 and 3 July 1993. ATSB Occurrence Report, 15 Feb. 1993 via aph.gov.au website

2008 Qantas said on 12 August 2008 that it would remove six B737-400 aircraft from service while it cross-checked maintenance records relating to aircraft modification work carried out at one of its Australian facilities. Commentator Crikey.com said that it was not yet known if the lack of maintenance documentation found by Qantas would identify a failure to complete compulsory work on the B737 nose bulkheads or not. Pressure bulkheads like those in the six temporarily grounded Qantas B737-400s were vital to safe flight. The overseas disasters listed herein for 12 August 1985 and 26 May 2002 were attributed to bulkhead losses. Source: Qantas Statement on B737 Records,Issued by Qantas Corporate Communication (3802), 12 August 2008. Ben Sandilands, ’13. Bulkhead blues another blow to Qantas' reputation’, Crikey.com, 13 August 2008. via aph.gov.au website

2012 Qantas Boeing 747-438 (cn 25566/1239) VH-OJU “Lord Howe Island” landed in Sydney on 12 August 2012 carrying the Australian Olympic team on their return to Australia from the 2012 London Olympics. The aircraft was decorated for the occasion, wearing a boxing kangaroo logo on the nose of the aircraft and boxing gloves applied to the kangaroo of the Qantas logo on the tail fin. The usual "Spirit of Australia" tag line was replaced with "Spirit of the Australian Team". The flight carrying the Olympic team flew from London Stansted - Bangkok - Sydney. Source: Aviation WA website