ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 145377
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| Date: | Monday 26 October 1953 |
| Time: | 21:55 LT |
| Type: |  de Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide |
| Owner/operator: | Queensland Ambulance Transport Brigade |
| Registration: | VH-CFA |
| MSN: | 6713 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 3 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Hinchinbrook Island, QLD -
 Australia
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Ambulance |
| Departure airport: | Iron Range, Cape York, Queensland |
| Cairns Airport, Carins, Queensland (CNS/YCBS) | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
C/no. 6713: Taken on charge as HG728 against Contract No.6/Acft/2580/C20a at 18 MU RAF Dumfries 31.3.44. To 527 Squadron, RAF Digby 20.4.45. To 57 OTU RAF Hawarden 26.4.45. To 53 OTU RAF Kirton-in-Lindsey 14.6.45. To 18 MU Dumfries 1.7.46. To 66 Group Comm Flight, RAF Turnhouse 29.4.48; coded "RCI-K". Returned to 18 MU Dumfries 12.1.49 for storage pending disposal
Struck off charge when sold 25.4.49 to R.A. Short. Registered G-ALNT (C of R 12702) 21.4.49 to Robert Alan Short & James Henry, Tattersall, Croydon. C of A 10604 issued 8.7.49. Registered 15.9.49 to Walter Hutchinson, Eastleigh. Re-registered 2.12.50 to The Hampshire School of Flying Ltd, Eastleigh. Registration cancelled 26.2.52 as "sold abroad to Australia".
Initially allotted VH-ATU (but Not Taken Up). Registered as VH-CFA (*the second) 21.11.52 to Queensland Ambulance Transport Brigade, Cairns, named "Clive Jones".
Written off 26.10.53: The Aerial ambulance was called out to Iron Range on Cape York to collect a patient, an aboriginal stockman who had been bitten by a snake. Captain Dick Brampton was one of half a dozen ANA pilots who were rostered to fly the Ambulance plane as needed for the Cairns Ambulance Transport Brigade. On board as well was an ambulance bearer. Capt Dick Brampton took off fairly late from Iron Range, and was confronted by very low thick cloud north of Cairns. The Rapide was only VFR nor IFR and Capt Brampton could not get a fix on Cairns. He was redirected further south. He apparently ran out of fuel north of Hinchinbrook Island and landed the aircraft on the water near Brooke Island. Nearly two hours late on estimated ETA at Townsville that evening, a radio call was heard at 9.48pm “Lost, low fuel”. At 9.55pm another call saying the aircraft was being ditched. Within an hour of the last message, a RAAF Lincoln from Townsville and an ANA DC-3 from Cairns were searching an area near Hinchinbrook Island, 20 miles north of Ingham
The ambulance bearer was uninjured and got out okay, along with Capt Brampton who had some leg injuries. The stockman went down with the plane which did not float for long.
Apparently Capt Dick Brampton survived for some time in the water, but was unable to stay afloat due to his injuries. He was not wearing a life jacket. The ambulance bearer was picked up six hours later by a passing coastal freighter. Neither Capt Brampton's body nor any parts of the plane were ever found.
Registration cancelled 20.11.53. (*This Dragon Rapide VH-CFA is the second aircraft to bear this registration. The first was another Rapide, ex-G-AKOC (c/no. 6814) which went to Australia in 1949, and which crashed 26.11.51). Bush Pilots Airways DH.90 Dragonfly VH-AAD again used as the Cairns ambulance aircraft while QATB was waiting for a replacement DH.89 from England, which became VH-BFS in Feb 1955.
Sources:
1. http://www.ab-ix.co.uk/dh89.pdf
2. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-ALNT.pdf
3. http://www.edcoatescollection.com/ac1/austcl/VH-CFA.html
4. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-de-havilland-dh89-dragon-rapide-hinchinbrook-island-2-killed
5. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/p067.html
6. The Northern Miner (Charters Towers, Queensland) Saturday 31 Oct 1953 Page 2: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/81649330
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 01-May-2012 14:13 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 10-Mar-2014 03:41 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Registration, Source, Narrative] |
| 11-Mar-2014 18:57 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 09-Mar-2019 17:51 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 08-Jun-2022 09:03 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location] |
| 29-May-2023 14:04 | Ron Averes | Updated [[Location]] |
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