Maroochy air crash
Royal Australian Air Force CAC Wirraway · Beach air crash
From Redcliffe, Queensland to Noosa, Queensland
Event
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- Event fatalities
- 3 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- 3
- Occupants
- Unknown
- Survivors
- 2
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- Unknown
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Military
CAC Wirraway
- Aircraft type
- Cac WIRRAWAY
- Category
- Airplane · from aircraft type
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- A20-212
- Operator
- Royal Australian Air Force
- Onboard fatalities
- 0
- Route
- From Redcliffe, QueenslandTo Noosa, Queensland
Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.
From the Wikipedia article
The Maroochy air crash was an aircraft accident that occurred at 11.10am on 30 December 1950 at Maroochydore beach, Queensland, Australia. Three children were killed and fourteen others were seriously injured as a result of the accident.
CAC Wirraway Serial Number A20-212 of the Royal Australian Air Force had been circling between Maroochydore and Alexandra Headland during a routine shark patrol when it suddenly banked steeply and crashed onto the crowded beach in front of the Maroochydore Surf Life Saving Club. The pilot and his observer survived the crash.
Investigation and cause
Cause
Two coronial inquiries failed to attribute any blame for the crash. In 2013, a Queensland coroner overturned the findings of previous inquiries and ruled it was pilot error that caused the crash, siting his use of an unsuitable aircraft, which was known to stall at low speeds, and lack of training in surf patrol duties.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Maroochy air crash” (revision 1364349318, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article
Sources
Wikipedia article: Maroochy air crash
- Article
- Maroochy air crash
- Revision
- 1364349318 · 2026-07-16 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q6772341
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "Maroochy air crash" (page 30244467, revision 1364349318)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- Wikipedia article coordinates
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- operator named as an armed force or military unit in the infobox
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities plus ground fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: ground fatalities
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.