The Certificate of Airworthiness of DC-3 VH-EAM expired on July 23, 1948 and the aircraft was overhauled at Archerfield Airport, Australia. On completion of the overhaul on August 19, a Certificate of Inspection was issued to carry out a test flight. The cause of the accident was loss of control of the aircraft during take-off due to the reversed operation of the aileron control surfaces which was caused by the incorrect assembly of the aileron control cables. Contributory causes of the accident were: 1. Carelessness on the part of the pilot in that he did not ensure that the flying controls were functioning correctly before commencing the take-off on this test flight; and 2. Faulty inspection on the part of [name] in that he failed to detect that the aileron cables were incorrectly assembled during the overhaul of the aircraft.