ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 121395
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| Date: | Wednesday 31 January 1945 |
| Time: | 14:40 |
| Type: |  de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito FB Mk 40 |
| Owner/operator: | 5 OTU RAAF |
| Registration: | A52-29 |
| MSN: | DHA3029 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Location: | NW of Salt Ash Air Weapons Range near RAAF stn Williamtown, NSW -
 Australia
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Training |
| Departure airport: | RAAF Williamtown, NSW |
Mosquito A52-29: Broke up in flight after the failure of of the mainplane at Salt Ash Range near RAAF Williamtown, New South Wales. 31/01/1945
This structural failure was witnessed by many people. This aircraft was delivered to the RAAF in January 1945. The aircraft was engaged in an air to ground gunnery training exercise at the time of the accident. It had been in the air for 20 minutes during which time three passes had been made at the target. While attempting the fourth pass at the target the starboard mainplane disintegrated at about 200 feet in a 20 degree shallow dive. The de-lamination occurred at the point that where firing of the guns would have commenced and pull out of the dive would commence. The aircraft did not pull out of the 280 mph dive and crashed on to a property owned by the Hunter River District Water Board near the northern boundary fence of the Air to Ground Gunnery Range.
It is believed that the upper double skin failed in shear between ribs 7 and 11. The inboard portion to rib 1 then lifted vertically and the whole double skin broke away upwards and backwards. In failing, this portion started as failure in the top single skin and leading edge. The single skin carried away breaking the tip attachment. Failure of the tip then occurred followed by the lower skin and spars outboard from the engine.
A witness gave evidence that the aircraft, flown by a different pilot, had a severe pullout at zero altitude from a dive the previous day and vapour trails at the wing tips were observed during this maneuver.
Crew:
F/O (Aus.413454) Francis John WHITE (pilot) RAAF - killed
P/O (Aus.438666) Robert Neill TUCKER (nav) RAAF - killed
Sources:
1.http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/_DH98%20prodn%20list.txt
2.http://www.adf-gallery.com.au//2a52.shtml
3.https://www.ozatwar.com/ozcrashes/nsw19.htm
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 29-Mar-2011 13:37 | Nepa | Added |
| 11-Jun-2012 12:01 | Nepa | Updated [Location, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 14-Sep-2015 20:50 | Nepa | Updated [Aircraft type, Location, Narrative] |
| 18-Jan-2016 13:29 | Koumes | Updated [Narrative] |
| 07-May-2021 21:19 | Anon. | Updated [Aircraft type, Other fatalities, Departure airport, Source, Operator] |
| 03-Jul-2021 16:40 | Lelek | Updated [Time, Location, Departure airport, Narrative, Operator] |
| 10-Jul-2021 17:49 | Anon. | Updated [Location, Source, Narrative, Operator] |
| 26-Nov-2021 17:23 | Nepa | Updated [Narrative, Operator] |
| 26-Nov-2021 21:34 | Nepa | Updated [Narrative, Operator] |
| 21-Jun-2023 20:48 | Nepa | Updated [[Narrative, Operator]] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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