Qantas Crashes
Compiled by Ken Sanford – kaerophil@gmail.com
I don't know where it came from that "Qantas has never had a fatal accident", but it is not true--it is an urban legend. Qantas has had a number of crashes in its history, some of which resulted in fatalities. The following is a list of them:
25 Feb 1923 – Jericho, Australia - Armstrong W.FK8 – G-AUCF – no fatalities
13 Sep 1923 - Blackhall, Australia - Armstrong W. FK.8 - G-AUDE – no fatalities
24 Mar 1927 - Tambo, Australia - De Havilland DH.9 - G-AUED – Stalled at low altitude on approach to land - 3 fatalities
5 Feb 1928 – Camooweal, Australia - De Havilland DH.9 – G-AUFM – no fatalities
4 Sep 1928 - Adelaide Hills, Australia - De Havilland DH.50 - G-AUHI – Following the conclusion of an aerial tour carrying Sir John Salmond, the aircraft departed Adelaide piloted by C. W. A. Scott with an engineer as passenger. Control was lost in cloud during an attempt to cross the Adelaide Hills; the aircraft crashed and caught fire - 1 fatality
3 Oct 1934 - Near Winton, Australia - De Havilland DH.50A - VH-UHE - Crashed after in-flight loss of control, possibly stalled at low altitude in dusty low-visibility conditions – 3 fatalities
15 Nov 1934 – Longreach, Australia - de Havilland DH-86 - VH-USG - Crashed on its delivery flight from England to Brisbane after in-flight loss of control, probably due to the type's design deficiencies - 4 fatalities
12 Dec 1938 – Darwin, Australia – Short S23 ‘C’ Class flying boat “Coorong” – VH-ABE - broke loose from its moarings in a storm – there were no passengers onboard
30 January 1942 - Timor Sea off Kupang - Short S.23 Empire Flying Boat - G-AEUH – Shot down by Japanese aircraft; ex-Qantas VH-ABD, owned by Imperial Airways and operated by Qantas – 13 fatalities
20 Feb 1942 – Belmont, Australia - de Havilland DH-86 VH-USE – Lost control after take-off in stormy weather, possibly broke-up in flight (tail fin found a mile from the crash site) - 9 fatalities see: http://home.st.net.au/~dunn/ozcrashes/qld115.htm for details
22 Apr 1943 - Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea - Short S-23 (flying boat) - VH-ADU - Broke up in heavy seas after emergency landing in open water in poor weather - 13 fatalities
26 Nov 1943 - Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea - Lockheed 18 Lodestar (or Lockheed C-56B Lodestar) - VH-CAB (or 42-68348) - Struck hill after take-off; USAAF aircraft operated by Qantas for Allied Directorate of Air Transport - 15 fatalities
11 Oct 1944 - Sydney, Australia - Short S-23 flying boat - VH-ABB – On final approach with one engine shut-down, stalled 3 metres (10 ft) above the water and hull ruptured on impact - 1 fatality
18 Nov 1944 - Sydney, Australia - Short S-23 (flying boat) VH-ACD – no fatalities
23 Mar 1946 – Indian Ocean between Colombo, Ceylon and Cocos (Keeling) Islands – Avro Lancastrian – G-AGLX - Aircraft disappeared between Colombo and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, cause unknown; aircraft owned by BOAC and operated by both airlines on Sydney-London services (BOAC crews operated London-Karachi and Qantas crews Karachi-Sydney).) – 10 fatalities
22 Jan 1947 – Schofields, Australia - Lockheed 14 Electra - VH-ADT – no fatalities
11 Feb 1948 - Condamine, Australia - Lockheed 10 Electra - VH-AEC – no fatalities
7 Apr 1949 - Dubbo, Australia - Avro Lancaster - VH-EAS – no fatalities
11 May 1949 – Kerowagi, Papua New Guinea - Avro Anson - VH-BBZ – no fatalities
16 Jul 1951 – Huon Gulf, near Lae, Papua New Guinea - de Havilland DHA-3 Drover - VH-EBQ – Crashed in sea after centre propeller failure - 7 fatalities
"13 Dec 1951 – Yaramunda, Papua New Guinea - De Havilland DH.84 - VH-URV – 3 fatalities" A Trans Australian Airlines Dragon under contract to Qantas. Pilot Rynus Zuhydam (spelling), passengers were Government officials. Aircraft burn on impact (aircraft remains are still there.)
24 Aug 1960 - Port Louis, Mauritius - Lockheed Constellation 1049C - VH-EAC – no fatalities
see: http://casa.gov.au/fsa/2000/jan/page49.pdf
"23 September 1999, Qantas Flight 1, a Boeing 747-400 (VH-OJH), overran the runway while landing at Bangkok, Thailand, during a heavy thunderstorm. The aircraft ended up on a golf course." The accident Qantas don't want to know about!!! Hull written off by the insurance company, Qantas refused to allow write off and reputedly put in $100 million (more than the aircraft was worth) in repairs and recovery. Still flying with Qantas.
Additional Incidents:
22 April 2000 -- Part of the undercarriage of a 747 collapses as the plane prepares to take off from Rome airport for Australia.
February 2008 -- A Qantaslink 717 with 84 passengers on board sustains what the Australian Transport Safety Bureau describes as "substantial damage" when it lands heavily in Darwin. The operator was National Jet Systems, a contractor to Qantas. Heavy landing and reportedly, fuselage buckled.