Eric Bonar – Aviation Historical Society of Australia

DerekB06/03/202303/06/2023

Aviation Heritage Vol. 54 No. 1 (March 2023) Contents Listing

The latest quarterly edition (March 2023) of the AHSA journal – Aviation Heritage – has recently been posted to members. The full contents are...

1930 Amy Johnson became the first woman to fly solo from the UK to Australia when she landed in on 24 May 1930 Darwin after flying her de Havilland DH.60G Moth G-AAAH "Jason" from Croydon, UK. She departed from the UK on 5 May 1930. Her aircraft is now on display at the Science Museum, London. Source: Aviation Heritage Vol 50 No 1 March 2019.

1961 Douglas DC-4-1009 c/n 43065-61 Skymaster VH-TAA "Watkin Tench" of Trans-Australia Airlines crashed near Myrtletown on Bulwer Island at the mouth of the Brisbane River on 24 May 1961. VH-TAA was the first DC-4 ordered by the newly formed TAA in 1946. At the time of its crash it was part of the airline's cargo fleet and was nearing the end of an early morning flight from Sydney. The captain attempted to vacate his seat whilst suffering cardiac arrest and collapsed over the engine throttle controls. The copilot was unable to access the throttles and the aircraft descended into the mangroves in total darkness. Had the co-pilot (F/O Adams) been able to reach the landing light switch from his seat and illuminate the crash landing area it may have been possible for him to avoid the large tree that was invisible in the dark as it lay directly in the path of the descending aircraft. The aircraft had flown over 46,000 hours at the time of the crash. There were two fatalities. Sources: aviation-safety.net website; Aussie Airliners