Date:	Thursday 19 October 1939
Time:	08:45 LT
Type:	de Havilland DH.60G Moth
Owner/operator:	Matheson Aviation & Training Co Pty Ltd
Registration:	VH-UIG
MSN:	822
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	near Goodna Mental Hospital, off Peel Street, Goodna, Queensland -   Australia
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	Archerfield Airport, Brisbane, Queensland (YBAF)
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Written off (destroyed) when crashed near Goodna Mental Hospital, off Peel Street, Goodna, Queensland 19.10.39; pilot Arthur James Jackson (aged 22) was killed. At the time of the fatal crash, he was attempting to accumulate 100 hours total flying experience, in order to join up with the R.A.A.F. (100 hours being at the time the minimum amount of flying time to qualify as a pilot). As reported in a contemporary local newspaper (The Telegraph (Brisbane, Qld.) Thursday 19 October 1939 Page 1 - see link #1)

"Pilot Killed in Plane Crash at Goodna
Was Getting Flying Hours to Enlist
A plane, the property of the Matheson Aviation & Training Company Pty. Ltd., crashed in a paddock near the Goodna Mental Hospital this morning. The pilot, Arthur James Jackson, 22, of St. George, was killed.

Jackson came to Brisbane about three weeks ago to enlist and was getting in flying hours at the Matheson School. His injuries were a compound comminuted fracture of the skull, a fracture of both arms, and severe internal injuries. He was killed instantly.

The accident occurred in the horse paddock of the Goodna Mental Hospital at 8.45 this morning. The plane was crushed to matchwood, and rolled into a heap that could have been covered by a blanket. It came to rest about 50 yards after it hit the ground, and the engine was torn bodily from it, and finished 50 yards further on. The body of the pilot was about level with the engine and 25 yards from it.

It was apparent from the marks on the ground that Jackson had attempted to land the plane but that a portion of it struck a short stump which was hidden in the tail grass. Had the plane cleared this obstruction it was likely that a safe landing would have been made as he would have had a sufficiently clear run.

WENT INTO SPIRAL SPIN.
The machine was seen flying around the locality for some time but the first indication that, anything was wrong was when the plane suddenly went into a spiral spin for several hundred feet after making a left bank. The machine was then near the open horse paddock which is not thickly treed.

The engine was not heard from the farm at the Goodna Hospital which is about half a mile away until it had gone into a nose dive and the pilot apparently tried to straighten out and regain height. He was apparently getting the machine around when it crashed.

It just cleared two large trees and the wheels struck the ground five feet behind the stump when the fuselage crashed into it. Pieces of the undercarriage were torn off and a trail of wreckage and oil-sprayed grass marked where the plane had raced over the ground.

The propeller was shattered when the stump was struck and both balloon wheels which were torn off and thrown 75 yards from the crash were blown-out.

Apparently, the machine raced along the ground on its undercarriage, breaking it up as it went. Marks in the soft earth showed that it had crumpled up into matchwood about 50 yards from the stump. The safety belt with pieces of the machine still attached was a few yards from the wrecked machine. The belt was still fastened.

The pilot must have been catapulted through the air as the machine crumpled up. The compass and other instruments were 50 yards further on near the wrecked engine which was torn bodily from the machine.

EYE WITNESS' STORY.
Mr. A. D. Josey, an attendant at the hospital, who was near the farm watching the machine, said he saw the plane make its left bank when it went into the spiral for about ten seconds. "I thought the pilot was practising dives," he said, "but then it changed into a nose dive at terrific speed. I had not heard the engine until then. The pilot must have tried to straighten out then because I could hear the engine roaring as the machine neared the ground. I then heard the crash and rushed over lo the paddock."

Mr. Josey said that with other men he searched the wreckage fearing another man may have been in the machine. The paddocks for many yards around were also searched.

Dr. P. F. V. Crowe, Acting Medical Superintendent and Dr. Clive Boyce of the hospital staff, were among the first to reach the machine. Jackson had been killed instantly; he had been shockingly injured".

Registration VH-UIG cancelled 19.10.39 as "destroyed". Despite some published sources stating "two killed", the above newspaper report confirms that the pilot was the sole person on board, and the sole fatality. Goodna is a suburb on the eastern edge of the City of Ipswich in Queensland, Australia. The crash location was approx.10 miles south-south west of Archerfield Airport, Brisbane.

1. The Telegraph (Brisbane, Qld.) Thursday 19 October 1939 Page 1 Pilot Killed in Plane Crash at Goodna: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/188036005
2. [Photos of wreckage] The Telegraph (Brisbane, Qld.) Thursday 19 October 1939 Page 8: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/19957942
3. [Inquest into pilot fatality] Queensland Times (Ipswich, Qld.) Friday 15 December 1939 Page 8 GOODNA CRASH VICTIM: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/114181671
4. https://www.ab-ix.co.uk/pdfs/dh60.pdf
5. As G-AUIG: https://www.afleetingpeace.org/index.php/page-australian-register/g-au?highlight=WyJnLWF1aWciXQ==
6. As VH-UIG: https://www.afleetingpeace.org/index.php/page-australian-register/vh-ua-um?highlight=WyJnLWF1aWciXQ==
7. https://www.edcoatescollection.com/ac1/austu/VH-UIG.html
8. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_VH-U.html
9. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/p008.html
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodna,_Queensland

c/no.822 DH.60G Moth [Gipsy I engine#40, amended to #36] to DeHavilland Australia with C of A 1655 issued 25.10.28. Registered as G-AUIG [C of R 234] 10.12.28 to R. A. Charlton, Sydney, NSW. Re-registered as VH-UIG 3.12.29 to same owner. Re-registered 3.1.31 to De Havilland Aircraft Pty Ltd, Mascot, Sydney NSW; (having been traded in against DH.60G Moth VH-URA c/no DHA.4). Re-registered 24.3.33 to N M Kater, Warrumbungle, NSW [based at Mascot, Sydney]. Re-registered 15.6.36 to G B S Falkiner, Warren, NSW. Re-registered 24.8.36 to Aerial Transport Ltd, Warren, NSW. Re-registered 25.3.37 to Matheson Flying School (Pty) Ltd, Brisbane, Qld. Re-registered 5.7.38 to Mrs A Finlay, Brisbane, Qld; operated by Matheson Flying School. Re-registered 21.10.38 to Matheson Aviation & Training Co Pty Ltd, Archerfield, Qld.
Registration VH-UIG cancelled 19.10.39.

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
13-Mar-2024 20:57	Dr. John Smith	Added