Incident Overview
Date: Tuesday 11 September 1945
Aircraft Type: Douglas C-47A-30-DK (DC-3)
Owner/operator: Royal Australian Air Force – RAAF
Registration Number: A65-56
Location: off Milne Bay –
ÿ Papua New Guinea
Phase of Flight: En route
Status: Destroyed, written off
Casualties: Fatalities: 19 / Occupants: 19
Component Affected: AircraftAircraft
Category: Accident
A small chartered plane crashed into the sea during a sudden tropical downpour shortly after takeoff from Gurney. The pilot radioed to the tower requesting to be homed, and subsequently lost contact. Search efforts yielded no results, but a constable found life jackets, cushions, and oil on the water at Milne Bay.A small chartered plane crashed into the sea during a sudden tropical downpour shortly after takeoff from Gurney. The pilot radioed to the tower requesting to be homed, and subsequently lost contact. Search efforts yielded no results, but a constable found life jackets, cushions, and oil on the water at Milne Bay.
Description
Minutes after taking off from Gurney, the plane was engulfed by a tropical downpour. At 10:21, the pilot radioed to the tower he was returning and asked to be “homed”. That was the last anyone ever heard of the aircraft. Weather closed in around strip and aircraft apparently crashed into sea. Aerial and ground searches found nothing. But the next day a village constable in a canoe found life jackets, cushions and oil floating on the surface of the water at Milne Bay.
Source of Information
http://www.pacificwrecks.com/aircraft/c-47/A65-56.html, http://www.adf-serials.comhttp://www.pacificwrecks.com/aircraft/c-47/A65-56.html, http://www.adf-serials.comPrimary Cause
Sudden and unexpected tropical downpour during takeoff.Sudden and unexpected tropical downpour during takeoff.Share on:
