1946 Australian National Airways DC-3 crash

On Sunday 10 March 1946 a Douglas DC-3 aircraft departed from Hobart, Tasmania, for a flight to Melbourne, Australia. The aircraft crashed into the sea with both engines operating less than 2 minutes after takeoff. All twenty-five people on board the aircraft died. It was Australia's worst civil aviation accident at the time.

An investigation panel was promptly established to investigate the accident. The panel was unable to conclusively establish the cause but it decided the most likely cause was that the automatic pilot was inadvertently engaged shortly after takeoff while the gyroscope was caged. The Department of Civil Aviation took action to ensure that operation of the automatic pilot on-off control on Douglas DC-3 aircraft was made distinctive from operation of any other control in the cockpit, and that instructions were issued impressing on pilots that gyroscopes should be un-caged prior to takeoff.

An inquiry chaired by a Supreme Court judge closely examined three different theories but found there was insufficient evidence to determine any one of them as the cause. This inquiry discovered that the captain of the aircraft was diabetic and had kept it secret from both his employer and the Department of Civil Aviation. The judge considered the captain's diabetes and self-administration of insulin probably contributed significantly to the accident but he stopped short of making this his official conclusion.

In his report, the judge recommended modification of the lever actuating the automatic pilot. The inquiry uncovered four irregularities in the regulation of civil aviation in Australia and the judge made four recommendations to deal with these irregularities.

The flight

The Australian National Airways aircraft registered VH-AET arrived at Cambridge aerodrome at 8:15 pm local time, about four hours late. The return flight to Essendon Airport was scheduled to depart at 4:50 pm, but did not do so until 8:50 pm.

On board were 21 passengers, 3 pilots and an air hostess. Douglas DC-3 (and C-47) aircraft were normally crewed by two pilots but on 10 March the cockpit of VH-AET was occupied by a third person, a supernumerary pilot who was making his first flights with the airline. The weight of the aircraft was about 900 lb below the maximum authorised weight.

The takeoff was into a light southerly wind towards Frederick Henry Bay and the sea. Observers at the aerodrome reported that the takeoff was normal, and both engines were operating perfectly.

Witnesses in the vicinity of Seven-Mile Beach estimated that the aircraft reached a height of a little above 400 ft before turning left slightly and descending steeply. The aircraft cleared the land and crashed into Frederick Henry Bay about 300 yd beyond the water's edge and a mile (1.6 km) from the western end of Seven-Mile Beach. After takeoff it flew for less than 2 minutes and covered a distance of only 2.9 nmi.

Flight crew

The captain was Thomas Spence, aged 30. He had about 3,500 hours flying experience and had been a captain of Douglas DC-3 aircraft for a year. He joined Australian National Airways in June 1942.

The co-pilot was David Collum, aged 21. He had about 1,400 hours flying experience, mostly with Australian National Airways.

The supernumerary pilot was Austin Gibson, aged 37. He had about 2,500 hours flying experience in the RAAF; half of this as a flying instructor. He had over 1,000 hours in command of twin-engine Anson, Oxford, Hudson and Beaufort aircraft but no experience on the Douglas C-47 or DC-3.