This Day in History: 1951-10-15

de Havilland DH.104 Dove 1 VH-AQO operated by Airlines (WA) Ltd crashed near Kurawang Mission, 14 miles west of Kalgoorlie Airport, WA on 15 October 1951. The aircraft departed Perth on a scheduled flight, designated as No. 849, for Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. The pilot informed Kalgoorlie Aeradio, at 15:18 hours, that the aircraft would be landing in seven minutes and requested landing instructions, whereupon Kalgoorlie Aeradio asked VH-AQO to stand by. At 15:20 hours, Kalgoorlie Aeradio transmitted landing instructions to VH-AQO, but no acknowledgment or further communications were received from the aircraft. Subsequently, the wreckage of VH-AQO was found near Kurawang Mission, 14 miles west of Kalgoorlie Airport. All the occupants, comprising a crew of two and five passengers, were killed and the aircraft was destroyed on impact. From the evidence at the crash site it was concluded that the cause of the accident was loss of control when the port wing became detached from the aircraft in the air due to a structural failure in the centre section main spar, due to a fatigue failure of the material in the lower boom of the main spar during normal fiying operations. Sources: Macarthur Job, Air Crash Vol. 2; aviation-safety.net website