ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 300972
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| Date: | Saturday 20 July 1946 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: | de Havilland DH.84 Dragon Mk III |
| Owner/operator: | KMH Air Services |
| Registration: | VH-AOM |
| MSN: | 2066 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 7 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | 32 Peel Street, Mackay, Queenland -
 Australia
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Passenger |
| Departure airport: | Proserpine Airport, Gunyarra, Whitsunday Region, Queensland (PPP/YPBN) |
| Mackay Airport, Mackay, Queensland (MKY/YBMK) |
15.04.43: Manufactured by De Havilland Aircraft Pty Ltd, Mascot Airport, Sydney NSW as part of an RAAF order for 87 aircraft
15.04.43: 1st Flight at Mascot, Sydney, NSW.
16.04.43: Received by No 2 Aircraft Park (2 AP) at Bankstown Airport, Sydney, NSW, and bought on charge as A34-77
04.06.43: Modified W/T (Wireless Telegraphy) Equipment fitted at De Havilland Mascot Airport, Sydney, NSW.
07.06.43: Allocated to No 7 Aircraft Depot (7 AD) at RAAF Station Tocumwal for modifications for use in Wireless Air Gunners Schools.
02.07.43: Received by 7AD at RAAF Station Tocumwal
09.08.43: Withdrawn from service. To be stored until further notice.
23.08.43: Allocated to 1 WAGS at RAAF Station Ballarat, Victoria
30.08.43: Received by 1 WAGS at RAAF Station Ballarat, Victoria
13.09.44: Allocated to No 5 Aircraft Depot (5 AD) at RAAF Base Wagga Wagga NSW for storage.
30.10.44: Received by 5AD Care & Maintenance Unit (CMU) at RAAF Station Cootamundra NSW.
19.09.45: Survey report to Commonwealth Disposal Commission (CDC) recommended disposal.
07.11.45: Sold by CDC to Mr Keith Virtue, Green Street, Yeerongpilly, Queensland, for £520 pounds. RAAF Markings to be removed before issue. CDC Sales Advice No G (Vic) 116 dated 01 November 1945 refers.
29.11.45 RAAF Status Card: Issued to Mr. K. Virtue
28.2.46 Registration application: Raymond T. Knight & Ronald J. McCarthy, Mackay Qld, trading as KMH Air Services, Mackay Qld.
20.07.46: Crashed Mackay, Queensland. When returning from Proserpine to Mackay with a load of the pilot and six passengers, the aircraft ran out of fuel which caused the pilot to attempt an emergency landing. The pilot first tried to land at the Mackay showgrounds but had to abort to avoid children on the field. With two dead engines, he then tried to land on an adjacent road, but a bus pulled in front of him causing another abort and during this abort, the port wing struck a power pole causing the aircraft to swing violently and crash into a house. The pilot, Raymond Knight (aged 24) single of Mackay was killed instantly and passenger Jean McCann (aged 21) of Eagle Junction, Brisbane died on the way to hospital. Director of Civil Aviation investigation finds no proof of the company’s allegation that fuel was stolen from the aircraft at Proserpine and determined that the accident was caused by the pilot allowing the aircraft to run out of fuel while inbound to Mackay on the return flight.
Additional: According to a contemporary local newspaper report (Daily Mercury (Mackay, Queensland) Friday 25 Oct 1946 Page 2 - see link #3):
"MACKAY PLANE CRASH
BRISBANE, Thursday. —The Pilot of a plane which crashed in Peel Street, Mackay, on July 20, was very calm throughout the crisis, according to the evidence of girl survivors at an inquest.
The pilot, Raymond Thomas Knight, and Edna Jean McCann, of Eagle Junction, a passenger, were killed in the crash.
Sheila Ann O'Donoghue, ledger-keeper, of Clayfield, who was a passenger in the plane, said when the machine approached Mackay one of the engines made a noise like a car which had run out of petrol. She said to Miss Shepherd, another passenger, "I hope we are not running out of gas."
Soon afterwards, she added, she heard a similar noise and noticed the scenery was passing very quickly. She closed her eyes and did not hear the crash. Her next recollection was waking up in the operating theatre at Mackay Hospital.
Betty Brazier, bank officer, of Clayfield, said she was seated on the left hand side of the plane immediately behind Edna McCann. She did not hear anything said about petrol or refuelling before the plane left Proserpine for Mackay. Just before the crash, she continued, the pilot turned and said, "It will be all right. There is no need to worry," or words to that effect. The plane had banked steeply to the left and she could see both engines were dead.
Nora Catherine Shepherd, bookkeeper, of Florence Street, Wavell Heights, said she felt two bumps before the plane crashed. She thought it was hitting house tops. She could see the showgrounds as the plane approached Mackay, but could not see whether they were clear enough to enable the machine to land.
The Coroner (Mr. C. B. Buxton, SM) adjourned the inquest to Mackay on a date to be fixed".
09.05.47: Company advises Director of Civil Aviation that the wreck was scrapped.
21.05.47: Struck-off Register as "destroyed"
Sources:
1. https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/mackay/remembering-the-double-fatal-plane-crash-along-peel-st-in-mackay-75-years-on/news-story/7281d43720b87354d3afd970f60e1c73
2. http://www.bonzle.com/pictures-over-time/pictures-taken-in-1946/page-2/picture-1meu58j9/size-4/mackay/crash-of-kmh-airways-de-havilland-dragon-at-mackay-1946
3. Daily Mercury (Mackay, Queensland) Friday 25 Oct 1946 Page 2: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/171343270
4. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/production-lists/DH84.pdf
5. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/pAus01.html
6. https://www.goodall.com.au/australian-aviation/dh84-pt2/dh84-dragon-pt2.htm
7. http://www.adf-serials.com.au/2a34.htm
8. https://www.airhistory.net/photo/187078/VH-AOM [photo of accident]
9. https://vymaps.com/AU/Jungle-Johno-Tours-1673263656270678/
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitsunday_Coast_Airport
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 10-Nov-2022 18:09 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
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