Date:	Monday 22 January 1940
Time:	day
Type:	de Havilland DH.60G Moth
Owner/operator:	Kingsford Smith Air Service Ltd
Registration:	VH-UQT
MSN:	1477
Year of manufacture:	1930
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Substantial
Category:	Accident
Location:	Pelican Point, near Kurnell, NSW -   Australia
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	Mascot Airport, Sydney, NSW (SYD/YSSY)
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
The aircraft was substantially damaged when it crashed into a mangrove swamp near Pelican Point, NSW. Instructor Archibald Frank Brown killed, passenger badly injured.

The survivor, Harold Robert Cox eventually gained his 'wings' but was however lost in an accident in July 1942 two years later.

1. The Gloucester Advocate (Gloucester, NSW) Tuesday 23 January 1940 Page 2 Fatal Crash at Kurnell: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/160447086
2. The Argus (Melbourne, Vic.) Tuesday 20 February 1940 Page 1 PLANE CRASHES INTO TREES: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/11295970
3. The Telegraph (Brisbane, Qld.) Monday 22 January 1940 Page 13 R.A.A.F. Plane Crash: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/188735203
4. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-AAUS.pdf
5. https://www.facebook.com/Igrewupinmortdale2223/posts/402075498876020/ [multiple photos of crash]
6. http://www.adf-serials.com.au/CMS/raaf2/2a7
7. [photo of crash] https://www.airhistory.net/photo/408963/VH-UQT
8. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_VH-U1.html
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurnell,_New_South_Wales

c/no. 1477 DH.60M Autoslot Moth [Gipsy I #886] registered as G-AAUS [C of R 2435] 3.30 to Capt. Richard Wyndham, London WC2 (aircraft based at Croydon). C of A 2430 issued 11.3.30. Re-registered [C of R 3330] 7.31 to George Charles Bateman, Laragh, near Bandon, Co. Cork, Ireland and operated by Texas Oil Co [Texaco], based Baldonnel. Re-registered [C of R 3863] 19.7.32 to Lieutenant Richard Allen Royal Australian Navy, London EC1 (aircraft based at Heston, Middlesex) [and bought via Brian Lewis & Co]. Allen departed Heston 3.8.32 enroute to Australia and arrived Wyndham 19.9.32. Registration G-AAUS cancelled 5.33 as 'sold abroad'.

Re-registered VH-UQT 21.12.32 to C Robertson, Melbourne, Victoria. Re-registered 13.12.33 to Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, Mascot, Sydney, NSW. Registration cancelled 12.12.34. Registration restored 1.7.35 to Kingsford Smith Air Service Ltd, Mascot, Sydney, NSW. Operated by Eastern Air Transport Ltd, Mascot, Sydney, NSW. Crashed and destroyed by fire at Mascot, Sydney 12.2.36. Registration VH-UQT cancelled 30.6.36. Rebuilt and repaired 1936-39. Registered 6.12.39 to Kingsford Smith Air Service Ltd, Mascot, Sydney, NSW.

Moth VH-UQT was technically impressed into the RAAF as A7-119 at 4 EFTS at Mascot just before the accident but this may have been a case of the paperwork running well behind events. The aircraft was still wearing the registration VH-UQT at the time of the accident - see photos at links #5 & #7 as proof. Civil registration VH-UQT cancelled 19.8.40. To 2 EFTS Parafield 21.10.40. To 2 ITS Sandgate 7.4.41. To INST MOTH 9 11.7.41. Reduced to scrap and struck off charge 11.9.45. VH-UQT/A7-119 does not appear to have served in the RAAF in any flying capacity, being damaged and therefore used as grounded instructional airframe

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
17-Feb-2024 23:58	Dr. John Smith	Added
18-Feb-2024 18:20	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Registration, Source, Narrative]
18-Feb-2024 18:23	ASN	Updated [Narrative, Category]
18-Feb-2024 18:23	ASN	Updated [Narrative]