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1920 A crowd of more than 20,000 people were waiting at Northfield Aerodrome to greet Sir Ross and Sir Keith Smith, James Bennett and Walter Shiers when they finally arrived in Adelaide on 23 March 1920 after their epic flight from England to Australia. Tens of thousands more – including school children who were given the day off – climbed onto rooftops and into trees, or trekked into the Adelaide Hills for a view of the record-breaking Vickers Vimy aircraft G-EAOU. The plane was spotted low and to the north of Mount Lofty at 1.38pm, The Advertiser reporting that “instantly there was a cry from thousands of throats of ‘there she comes’”. The Vimy charted a course down Cross Road, where family friends had hung welcome signs from balconies, before heading north over the city centre. The crew waved handkerchiefs in response to the “cheer upon cheer” which “rent the air”. They touched down on home soil at 1.55pm. The Vimy had flown from England to Australia - a distance of 17,800km - in just 28 days to win the 1919 Air Race, arriving in Darwin to a heroes' welcome on 10 December 1919. But with the aircraft's twin Rolls-Royce engines showing major signs of wear and tear, the 4,800km victory flight south to Sydney, Melbourne and finally Adelaide took twice as long. After nearly six years away, Sir Ross was determined to make it home - by air - to Adelaide. Speaking at a welcome reception hosted by his old comrades from the 3rd Light Horse Regiment at the Tivoli (now Her Majesty’s Theatre), he said the night was “quite the happiest he had ever spent in his life, because he was back in his native city”. Source: SA History Hub

1945 Consolidated Liberator B-24L A72-80 of 24 Squadron RAAF crashed into Vansittart Bay, Anjo Peninsula, WA on 23 March 1945. The aircrat took off from Truscott Strip, Western Australia leading a formation of four aircraft on an armed shipping sweep. Shortly after take off the pilot SQNLDR N.H. Straus called Truscott tower indicating that he was preparing for an emergency landing. Owing to the aircraft's low altitude it was apparent that Straus could not locate the airstrip. For 23 minutes after take off various messages from the aircraft were received by Truscott tower and V.H.F. homing and by the remainder of the aircraft in the formation. None of these messages informed the exact cause of the distress but all that was received was that the aircraft could not gain height. At 0713 hours a message was received that Straus was about to ditch in Vansittart Bay. Following this the crews of the remaining three aircraft saw A72-80 ditch with wings level but at a fairly high rate of descent. The aircraft caught fire on impact with the water and disintegrated. The crew of 12 all perished in the crash. Source: ADF-Serials

1970 English Electric Canberra B.21 A84-205 operated by No. 1 (Bomber) Operational Conversion Unit RAAF crashed at RAAF Amberley, Queensland on 23 March 1970. The crew FLGOFF H. Badower (Pilot) & FLTLT J. Siffer (Navigator) were both killed and the aircraft was destroyed. Sources: ADF-Serials; aviation-safety.net website

2000 The Aviation Safety Foundation Australia launched an aviation industry code of best practice containing a set of guidelines for excellence in operating standards on 23 March 2000. Source: Deputy PM Media Release. via aph.gov.au website