Date & Time:
May 25, 1942 at 0357 LT
Type of aircraft:
Douglas C-39 (DC-2)
Operator:
Registration:
38-505
Flight Phase:
Takeoff (climb)
Flight Type:
Military
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Alice Springs – Daly Waters – Batchelor
MSN:
2062
YOM:
1939
Country:
Australia
Region:
Oceania
Crew on board:
4
Crew fatalities:
4
Pax on board:
5
Pax fatalities:
5
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
9
Circumstances:
Due to poor weather conditions, the captain decided to postpone the departure for more than three hours. Two minutes after takeoff, while climbing at night, the airplane stalled and crashed in a desert area located few hundred metres from the airfield, bursting into flames. The airplane was destroyed by impact forces and a post crash fire and all nine occupants were killed.
Crew (21st Troop Carrier Squadron):
2nd Lt Russell L. Callison,
2nd Lt William A. O'Neill,
Pvt Martin J. Law,
Pvt Rolfe M. Smith.
Passengers:
2nd Lt Aubrey Lawless Tobias,
F/Lt Duncan Matheson,
Lac James Emmanuel Skillen +2.
Crew (21st Troop Carrier Squadron):
2nd Lt Russell L. Callison,
2nd Lt William A. O'Neill,
Pvt Martin J. Law,
Pvt Rolfe M. Smith.
Passengers:
2nd Lt Aubrey Lawless Tobias,
F/Lt Duncan Matheson,
Lac James Emmanuel Skillen +2.
Probable cause:
The airplane was overloaded. It appears that the total weight of the aircraft was 2,762 pounds above the MTOW at the time of the accident.
