Date:	Thursday 3 February 1938
Time:	day
Type:	de Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide
Owner/operator:	Royal Australian Air Force - RAAF
Registration:	A3-2
MSN:	6314
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 3
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAAF Laverton, Melbourne, Victoria -   Australia
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAAF Laverton, Melbourne, Victoria
Destination airport:	RAAF Laverton, Melbourne, Victoria

Narrative:
C of A 5304 issued 17.1.36 to De Havilland Aircraft Pty Ltd. Australian registration VH-UVG allocated but not formally registered on arrival. To RAAF [instead] as A3-2 in 4.36 (in replacement of A3-1, see VH-UFF).

The A3-2 is still carrying its call sign VH-UVG, as it was pressed into RAAF service to begin work based at Port Hedland as part of the North Australian Survey Flight (NASF). The A3-2 was forced to land ninety miles north of Newcastle Waters on 13.4.36 when it exhausted its fuel. The crew, Flight Lieutenant W. L. Hely, Aircraftmen R. B. Sherwood and H. Walkington, were uninjured although A3-2 sustained severe damage to the undercarriage in the landing.

Found 22.4.36 and eventually trucked to No.1 Aircraft Depot at Laverton for rebuild. Returned to service early Feb 1937, and again forced landed on dried up lake bed in Gibson Desert at 13:45 on 21.5.37. Salvaged on site and flown out 30.5.37.

Crashed 3.2.38 and destroyed landing at RAAF Laverton, Melbourne, Victoria. While on approach to land after a training flight, the aircraft made a steep turn at low altitude and a wingtip struck the ground, causing the aircraft to cartwheel. Completely wrecked.

As recorded in a contemporary local newspaper (Port Pirie Recorder (Port Pirie, SA) Fri 4 Feb 1938):

"PLANE CRASHES AT LAVERTON
Two Occupants little Hurt
MELBOURNE. Thursday.
Two occupants of an air force Dragon Rapide plane escaped with slight injuries and another occupant Was unhurt when the machine crashed in landing at Laverton this afternoon.

The plane was piloted by Flying Officer D. McLean, who received abrasions and shock. One mechanic also
suffered abrasions and the other escaped unhurt.

When the machine crashed one wing dug deeply into the ground and the plane was much damaged".

Pilot Flying Officer D. McLean, W/T Operator A. C. McLean (no relation) and third crew member L/AC G. A. Everingham escaped with minor cuts, abrasions, and bruising. Total flying time in RAAF service: 550 hours

1. http://www.adf-serials.com.au/2a33.htm
2. http://www.goodall.com.au/australian-aviation/dh89/dh89.htm
3. https://www.ab-ix.co.uk/pdfs/dh89.pdf
4. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-de-havilland-dh89-dragon-rapide-laverton
5. http://www.edcoatescollection.com/ac1/austu/VH-UVG%281%29.html
6. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_VH-U1.html
7. Garing: A Biography of Air Commodore WH Garing by Jim Turner
8. Port Pirie Recorder (Port Pirie, SA) Fri 4 Feb 1938 Page 2 PLANE CRASHES AT LAVERTON: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/95940834
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAAF_Williams

Northern Territory. RAAF salvage crew loading the fuselage of the Dragon Rapide aircraft A3-2 onto a truck. The wings and engines have been removed to facilitate the salvage operation. The detached wings are seen at left and at right, behind the fuselage.

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
22-Dec-2011 19:17	Dr. John Smith	Added
10-Mar-2014 02:36	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, ]
26-Oct-2017 00:43	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, ]
18-Feb-2019 18:32	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, ]
22-Feb-2019 23:20	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Embed code, ]
19-Mar-2019 21:27	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Embed code, Narrative, ]
09-Jun-2022 20:18	Ron Averes	Updated [Location, ]
15-Mar-2025 06:45	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Source, Narrative, Category, ]