This Day in History: 1937-03-28

Stinson Model A VH-UGG “Lismore” operated by Airlines of Australia crashed at Archerfield, QLD on 28 March 1937. The aircraft was departing on a flight to Townsville and the lone pilot (Stewart “Ginger” Cameron) was accompanied by one passenger, Ernest Cheung, a merchant from Cairns. Newspaper reports mentioned “Shortly after takeoff from Archerfield Airport it appears that the pilot was circling at low altitude in order to see the ground and fix a starting point from which he could shoot off for Rockhampton on a compass course. The airliner struck trees, the highest of which was about 50 feet, crashed and immediately burst into flames, killing the pilot and his passenger. Fog shrouded Archerfield aerodrome when the ‘plane took off at 6.30 a.m. Such fogs normally lift shortly after sunrise. No cause could be assigned to the second airliner disaster by the managing director or the chief pilot of Airlines of Australia on their return from Brisbane today. ‘So far we are completely baffled, said Mr. O.A. Robinson, Managing Director. Captain Keith Virtue, Chief Pilot, said that when the Stinson took off visibility was about 300 yards. Mr. Robinson said that there was no question of the ‘plane being overloaded with newspapers which it was carrying to Townsvllle. ‘It had under the normal load aboard’ he added. The aircraft was in perfect order, according to Mr. Robinson and Captin Virtue. From his examination of the wreck, the Chief Pilot added it would appear that the retractable undercarriage had not been raised. It is unlikely that Cameron had either the raising of the undercarriage, which is operated electrically by pressing a switch, or manipulation of the radio to distract him.” It is now believed that the accident was caused by the newly-introduced gyroscopic instruments in the aircraft not being given enough time to stabilise before take-off. Later, with the arrival of more technical information, it was discovered that the instruments should be allowed four minutes to attain their proper operating speed, otherwise the artificial horizon could turn upside-down. Sources: aviation-safety.net website; Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives; The Newcastle Sun, Mon 29 Mar 1937, Page 7, “ARCHERFIELD DISASTER”