Date:	Monday 30 December 1935
Time:	10:33 LT
Type:	de Havilland DH.60G Moth
Owner/operator:	Victorian Flying School & Taxi Services (Pty) Ltd
Registration:	VH-UMA
MSN:	1088
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Cowes, Phillip Island, Gippsland, Victoria -   Australia
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Passenger - Non-Scheduled/charter/Air Taxi
Departure airport:	Essendon Airfield, Melbourne, Victoria (MEB/YMEN)
Destination airport:	Cowes, Phillip Island, Gippsland, Victoria

Narrative:
Crashed (for the fourth and final time) in a paddock at Cowes, Phillip Island, Victoria 30.12.35. Aircraft caught fire on impact, passenger killed; pilot injured.


Cowes is the main township on Phillip Island in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. It is about two hours' drive from Melbourne and can also be reached by coach, or passenger ferry from Stony Point on the Mornington Peninsula.

1. The Sun (Sydney, NSW) Monday 30 December 1935 Page 7 MAN BURNED TO DEATH IN 'PLANE: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/230179724
2. The Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney, NSW) Tuesday 31 December 1935 Page 9 PLANE CRASHES: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/17208754
3. Inquest Into passenger's death: The Age (Melbourne, Vic.) Thursday 30 April 1936 Page 13 COWES PLANE TRAGEDY: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/205260490
4. Inangahua Times, 31 December 1935, Page 3: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/IT19351231.2.24
5. https://www.ab-ix.co.uk/pdfs/dh60.pdf
6. https://www.afleetingpeace.org/index.php/page-australian-register/vh-ua-um?highlight=WyJ2aC11bWEiXQ==
7. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_VH-U.html
8. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/p010.html
9. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/archive/Archive_1982.pdf
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowes,_Victoria

c/no 1088 DH.60G [Gipsy I #538] to Capt. Miller of Commercial Aviation Co, Adelaide, Australia with C of A 2097 issued 8.7.29. Registered as VH-UMA [C of R 329] 25.9.29 to MacRobertson Miller Aviation Co Pty Ltd, Parafield, SA.
Badly damaged in crash Ardrossan, SA 9.10.29; pilot B Learmonth killed; rebuild completed 12.2.30. Badly damaged when struck sheep on landing Meningie, SA 24.5.30; repaired. Sold 20.11.30 and registered 12.12.30 to C D & L F Pratt, Geelong; named "Mada".

Sold 8.9.32 and re-registered 30.9.32 to L H Laity, Clifton Hill, Victoria [based Essendon, Melbourne, Victoria]. Re-registered 19.4.34 to Victorian Flying School & Taxi Services (Pty) Ltd, Melbourne. Badly damaged when hit telegraph wires Moriac, Victoria 3.11.34; repaired.

Registration VH-UMA cancelled 31.12.35.

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
07-Mar-2024 08:06	Dr. John Smith	Added
07-Mar-2024 08:07	ASN	Updated [Narrative]