Date:	Monday 8 June 1931
Time:	day
Type:	de Havilland DH.60X Moth
Owner/operator:	Private
Registration:	VH-UPX
MSN:	598
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Tallarook Ranges, 7 miles from Tallarook township, Seymour, VIC -   Australia
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Test
Departure airport:	Essendon, Melbourne, Victoria (MEB/YMEN)
Destination airport:	Albury, NSW

Narrative:
c/no. 598 DH.60X Moth [Cirrus II #388] to DeHavilland Australia without C of A. To RAAF as A7-18. To 3 Squadron, RAAF Richmond 5.28. To 1 FTS Point Cook. Registered VH-UPX 8.5.31 to Civil Aviation Branch, Dept of Defence, Melbourne.

Written off (damaged beyond repair) 8.6.31: Pilot inspector J.H. Ekins was performing a flight for the Civil Aviation Branch of the Department of Defence. He left Melbourne-Essendon Airport bound for the north. While flying in the area of Tallarook mountains, near Seymour, Victoria, the airplane went missing. Wreckage and body located ten days later. According to a contemporary local newspaper report (The Telegraph (Brisbane, Qld.) Friday 19 June 1931 Page 9 AIR MYSTERY SOLVED - see link #1) which reported on the discovery of the crashed aircraft:

"AIR MYSTERY SOLVED
Aviator's Body in Wrecked Plane
MELBOURNE, June 10.
The mystery of the fate or Mr. J. H. Ekins, who disappeared on Monday, June 8, while on a flight from Melbourne to Albury (N.S.W.) was solved to-day, when his dead body was found in the wrecked 'plane which was discovered in the mountains near Tallarook yesterday.

Headed by Captain C. E. Johnston (Deputy Controller of Civil Aviation), and guided by the Italian who brought the news to Tallarook yesterday, a party this morning discovered the wrecked plane of Mr. J. H. Ekins (Aircraft Inspector) in the rugged Tallarook Ranges, seven miles from Tallarook township.

The body of Mr. Ekins, who apparently had died instantly from terrific head injuries, was found seated in the cockpit of the plane, which had overturned after striking several trees. The dead airman was strapped in his seat, and was in full flying kit. He had one hand to his forehead as If to protect himself from the force of the impact, and his wristlet watch, which was strapped to his wrist, was intact, and had stopped at 4.40 p.m.

The plane was facing north-west when found. It is thought that the visibility was bad and that Mr. Ekins was flying low) as the plane hit a tall tree, on which portion of one wing was found,' and then nose-dived to the ground striking several other trees and overturning".

Note that the reported time of "4.40pm" - the time that the pilots watch stopped - is not necessarily the time that the accident happened. It is possible that the watch survived the crash undamaged and continued for several hours until it finally stopped due to not being wound up by the pilot.

A further report covered the pilot's funeral and the inquiry into the crash (The Mercury (Hobart, Tasmania) Monday 22 Jun 1931 Page 10 - THE LATE MR. J. H. EKINS):

LATE MR. J. H. ERINS IMPRESSIVE FUNERAL.
MELBOURNE, June 21.
Several hundred people attended the funeral on Saturday of Mr. J. H. Ekins, inspector of the Civil Aviation Department, who was killed on June 8 when an aeroplane in which he was flying, crashed in the mountains near Tallarook. On Saturday morning the body was taken to the Collins Street Independent Church, where a special full choral service was conducted.

The long cortege of about 200 motor cars moved from the church to the Brighton Cemetery. Here about 200 additional motor cars and hundreds of people were waiting. At the graveside another service was conducted. The pall bearers included the Controller of Civil Aviation (Lieut.-Colonel H. C. Brinsmead), and Squadron Leader H. O. Harrison and Flying-Officer J. J. Swift, representing the Air Board.

INQUIRY INTO DEATH.
The Air Accidents Investigation Committee held a preliminary meeting on Saturday morning to make arrangements for holding an inquiry into the death of Mr. Ekins. The committee will probably complete its Investigation In time to present a report.to the Minister for Defence (Mr. Chifley) by the end of the week"

Tallarook is a town the Shire of Mitchell local government area in central Victoria, Australia. The town is in on the Hume Highway, 88 kilometres (55 mi) north of the state capital, Melbourne.

1. The Telegraph (Brisbane, Qld.) Friday 19 June 1931 Page 9 AIR MYSTERY SOLVED: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/182920312
2. (The Mercury (Hobart, Tasmania) Monday 22 Jun 1931 Page 10 - THE LATE MR. J. H. EKINS): https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/29913586
3. The Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney NSW) Saturday 20 Jun 1931 Page 13 MR. EKINS BODY FOUND: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/16787144
4. The Argus (Melbourne, Vic) Monday 15 June 1931 Page 7 MISSING AIRMAN: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/4400077
5. Jenaer Volksblatt 19 June 1931
6. http://www.adf-gallery.com.au//2a7.htm
7. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_VH-U1.html
8. https://baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-de-havilland-dh60x-moth-tallarock-1-killed
9. https://www.ab-ix.co.uk/pdfs/dh60.pdf
10. https://www.afleetingpeace.org/index.php/page-australian-register/vh-un-uz?highlight=WyJ2aC11cHgiXQ==
11. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/p005.html
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tallarook

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
18-Jan-2014 20:46	Dr. John Smith	Added
28-Aug-2017 16:35	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Location, Source, Narrative]
01-Jan-2020 14:57	Sergey L.	Updated [Source]
24-Apr-2020 16:25	TB	Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
27-Nov-2023 18:45	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Category]