Date & Time:
Feb 20, 1942 at 0830 LT
Type of aircraft:
De Havilland DH.86 Express
Operator:
Registration:
VH-USE
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Scheduled Revenue Flight
Survivors:
No
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Brisbane – Mount Isa – Darwin
MSN:
2309
YOM:
1935
Country:
Australia
Region:
Oceania
Crew on board:
2
Crew fatalities:
2
Pax on board:
7
Pax fatalities:
7
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
9
Circumstances:
The airplane was late and departed Brisbane-Archerfield with two hours delay. Few minutes after takeoff, it entered an area of clouds with heavy rain falls. It entered an uncontrolled descent, spiraled to the ground and crashed in a wooded area located in Belmont (Mount Petrie), some 13 km south of Archerfield Airport. All nine occupants were killed.
Crew:
Cpt Charles Henry Cecil Swaffield,
C/O Lindsay Stuart Marshall.
Photo: www.ozatwar.com
Crew:
Cpt Charles Henry Cecil Swaffield,
C/O Lindsay Stuart Marshall.
Photo: www.ozatwar.com
Probable cause:
Three quarters of the fin had been found quite some distance from the main wreckage of the aircraft. Nevertheless, the subsequent official inquiry into the loss was inconclusive.
