ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 161043
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| Date: | Thursday 11 August 1955 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: |  de Havilland DH.82A Tiger Moth |
| Owner/operator: | Royal NSW Aero Club |
| Registration: | VH-APF |
| MSN: | 83156 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 2 |
| Other fatalities: | 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Milpeerra Road, Milpeerra, near Bankstown, Sydney, NSW -
 Australia
|
| Phase: | Approach |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Bankstown, Sydney, NSW (BWU/YSBK) |
| Bankstown, Sydney, NSW (BWU/YSBK) | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
de Havilland DH.82A Tiger Moth MSN 83156 (Gipsy Major #83079); Taken on charge as T5413 at 4 MU RAF Cowley, Oxford 14.5.40 and shipped direct to Australia. Taken on charge by RAAF 18.7.40 and retained RAF serial. To 7 EFTS Western Junction 15.9.40. To 1 AOS 21.9.42. To 8 EFTS Narrandera 5.1.43. To 10 EFTS Temora 3.9.45. To DH Australia at Mascot, Sydney, NSW for overhaul no. T324.
Struck off charge when sold 25.2.46 to Royal Aero Club of New South Wales. Australian civil registered as VH-APF 19.7.46 to Royal Aero Club of NSW, Bankstown, Sydney, NSW
Written off (damaged beyond repair) in a Mid-air collision at an altitude of 300 feet with Auster J/4 Archer VH-AAL while both aircraft were on final approach to Bankstown, Sydney, NSW 11.8.55. As they collided the two aircraft locked together, and fell into scrubland, approximately 100 metres from Milperra Road. There were three fatalities - two in the Auster, one in the Tiger Moth
Fatalities were:
In Auster VH-AAL: Jaroslav Kossner (Instructor Pilot, aged 26) and Edward Cowley (Pupil Pilot Under Training, aged 45)
In Tiger moth VH-APF: Eric Marsh (Instructor Pilot, aged 35)
The pupil pilot under training in Tiger Moth VH-APF was David Lloyd Jones, aged 24, who escaped with only minor injuries (cuts and bruises). Registration VH-APF cancelled 12.8.55.
According to a contemporary newspaper report ("The Canberra Times" 12 August 1955, p.1 - see link #1)
"Three Die When Planes Collide Near Bankstown
SYDNEY, Thursday.
Three men were killed late to-day when two light training planes collided in mid-air near Bankstown Aerodrome. A fourth man who was in one of the planes escaped with black eyes and a barked shin.
The planes, an Auster and a Tiger Moth, were coming in to land when they collided about 300feet from the ground, and fell, locked together, into thick scrub, about 100 yards from Milperra Road.
The only recognisable part of the wreckage was the tail section of the Auster. The dead were: Jaroslav Kosmer, 26, of Renwick Street, Marrickville; Edward Cowley, 45, of St. George's Crescent, Sandy Point, and Eric Marsh, 35, of Dalton Road, Mosman. Kosmer and Cowley died instantly.
Marsh was rushed to Canterbury Hospital suffering multiple injuries, and died shortly after he was admitted. The fourth man in the plane, David Lloyd Jones, 24, of Albert Street, Edgecliffe, suffered only minor injuries, but is under observation in hospital.
Motorists driving along Milperra Road stopped when the mass of wreckage plummeted into the scrub, and ran to the scene.Fearing an outbreak of fire, they clawed at the twisted wrecks to get at the four men trapped in the almost solid mass. Workers from a nearby aircraft factory joined in the rescue efforts, and with the help of police and ambulancemen quickly on the scene, freed Lloyd Jones.
The other three could not be released for about half an hour. Marsh was the last to be dragged from the wreckage.Ambulancemen said the survivor was was extremely lucky that the wreckage did not catch fire. Police said later that the Auster aircraft, owned by the Kingsford-Smith Flying School, was being piloted by Kosner, who is a flying instructor.
With him in the plane was student pilot Edward Cowley. Lloyd Jones was receiving instruction in the Tiger Moth, owned-by the Royal N.S.W. Aero Club, from flying instructor Eric Marsh. They said both planes were approaching the field to land, when apparently the Auster aircraft mistook a signal given to the Tiger Moth, flying above it. The Auster began to climb and its right wing collided with the left wing of the other aircraft".
The crash location was near Milpeerra Road, Milperra, a suburb of local government area City of Canterbury Bankstown, is located 24 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district in the state of New South Wales, Australia, and is a part of the South Western Sydney region. Bankstown Airport, the intended touchdown point, runs immediately north of Milperra Road.
Sources:
1. The Canberra Times 12 August 1955, p1: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/91206843/7139505
2. http://www.adf-serials.com.au/2a17d.htm
3. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/production-lists/DH82.pdf
4. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/p831.html
5. https://www.austairdata.com.au/component/rsdirectory/entry/view/10322-vh-apf-1
6. https://www.phototimetunnel.com/the-runaway-plane-and-a-midair-collision-a-bad-month-at-bankstown-airport-august-1955
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milperra#Transport
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 29-Sep-2013 16:59 | TB | Added |
| 24-Mar-2014 03:17 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Location, Source, Narrative] |
| 02-Apr-2021 07:24 | TB | Updated [Operator, Total fatalities, Other fatalities, Location, Source, Narrative] |
| 22-Oct-2021 02:17 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Category] |
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