Date:	Sunday 2 June 1957
Time:	14:15 EST
Type:	Auster J/1N Alpha
Owner/operator:	Somerset Airways
Registration:	VH-SAG
MSN:	3358
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 3
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Lonesome Station, 36 miles from Injune, Queensland -   Australia
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Private
Departure airport:	Roma, Queensland
Destination airport:	Lonesome Station, Queensland
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Auster J/1N Alpha VH-SAG was destroyed on 2 June 1957 when it struck a dead tree during a forced landing at Lonesome Station near (36 miles from) Injune, Queensland. According the most complete reported on the incident, in the DCA Aviation Safety Digest (Issue 14, June 1958):

"Low Flying Auster Strikes Tree with Fatal Results
The aircraft was wrecked and two of its three occupants lost their lives when an Auster aircraft struck a tree, and dived into the ground while making an unauthorised message dropping pass over a homestead near lnjune, Queensland, at 14.15 hours E.S.T. on 2nd June, 1957. The third occupant was seriously injured.

One of the passengers had hired the aircraft and it was on his property that the accident occurred. This passenger was killed instantly and the pilot died shortly afterwards from extensive injuries.

An eyewitness saw the aircraft descend to a low height in the vicinity of the homestead, which was located in a small clearing in timber covered undulating country. It passed over the homestead and flew away to the north over rising ground covered with trees of varying height.

It soon reappeared and passed over the house again at a low height and in the same direction as previously.
On this run the pilot dropped a tin containing a message out of the left window. The aircraft then continued without deviation and struck the top branches of a tree, which stood taller than its neighbours, 334 feet from the house, on the edge of the clearing. The message fell midway between the house and this tree and, as it was dropped from a low height its position indicated that the pilot was occupied with the dropping action until about two seconds or less before the aircraft struck the tree.

The rising tree covered ground beyond the point of first impact provided a background against which the detection of the tree would depend on close attention to the flight path. Examination of the wreckage revealed no evidence of malfunctioning or failure in the power plant or the aircraft. From this and the other
evidence it was concluded that this accident occurred because the pilot did not pay adequate attention to
his flight path while flying close to obstructions".

As reported in a local newspaper at the time "The Canberra Times (Canberra, ACT) Monday 3 June 1957 Page 1, which names the two fatalities

"Four Die in Northern Aeroplane Crashes
Four men died in aeroplane smashes, in the North yesterday, two in Queensland and two in New Guinea,

Two were' killed and another man injured when an Auster aircraft crashed into trees, on Lonesome Station, 36 miles from Injune, Queensland, yesterday afternoon. Those killed were James Eric Kilpatrick, 62, the owner of Lonesome Station, and the pilot, William Cox, about 35, of Roma.

Keith Harper, a radio announcer, of Roma, was injured. He sustained severe head injuries. Cox died late to night, seven minutes after reaching Roma Hospital. Kilpatrick chartered the plane in Roma earlier today to fly over his property. Harper went along for the ride. The plane crashed only 100 yards from the station homestead.

A station hand, Billy Cook, 24, hacked at the cabin with an axe for one and a half hours to free the men. Cook was by himself on the station when the plane crashed. Cook said to-night "I saw the plane circling only 35ft. up. I turned away for an instant, then heard a terrific crash. "The plane ploughed through two trees, crashed into a third, then nosed into the ground."'

The engine of the plane was forced up into the cabin, jamming the men in the wreckage. Cook said petrol was running out of the broken tank, so he seized a tin, drained all the petrol into it and threw it away. After he released the men, he caught a horse and rode one-and-a-half miles to a neighbour's property to call an ambulance from Roma Hospital, 60 miles away.

The Auster was owned by Sommerset Airways"

Note that the reference to "four" fatalities in the above newspaper report is due to the report combining the crash of Auster VH-SAG as per above, with the crash of DH Tiger Moth VH-AQS in the Markham Valley, Papua New Guinea the previous day - which also resulted in two fatalties (see separate ASN entry)

According to one source on the history of the Lonesome Station (see link #7):

"A nervous flyer, [on 1 June 1957] James Kilpatrick was due to catch a small plane the next day when he wryly commented on a bunch of chrysanthemums on the table at the local pub, saying ‘you can put them on my grave tomorrow’. Tragically, his words foreshadowed what was to come. James died on Lonesome Station when the plane crashed into a tree".

Lonesome Station was a former cattle station, now part of the Lonesome section of Expedition National Park, known for its sandstone gorges, cliffs, and the Dawson River. Injune is a rural town and locality in the Maranoa Region, Queensland, Australia.

1. http://austerhg.org/prod_list/pages.php?page=3249
2. The Canberra Times (Canberra, ACT) Monday 3 June 1957 Page 1: Four Die in Northern Aeroplane Crashes: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/91590077
3. DCA Aviation Safety Digest (Issue 14, June 1958): https://www.atsb.gov.au/sites/default/files/media/5774711/asd_14_jun_58.pdf
4. https://www.austairdata.com.au/component/rsdirectory/entry/view/32043:vh-sag-1
5. https://bushpilotsairways.com.au/wp-content/publications/History-of-Somerset-Airways-Ron-Entsch.pdf p.11
6. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/48803316/james-eric-kilpatrick
7. History of Lonesome Cattle Station: https://pulse.auctionsplus.com.au/thebox/lonesome-life-of-pioneering-musters-and-tales-from-a-remote-queensland-cattle-station
8. https://airwaysmuseum.com/Downloads/DCA%20accident%20reports%201956%20to%201968%20v2.pdf
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Injune

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
17-May-2008 11:10	ASN archive	Added
06-Sep-2013 16:53	Dr.John Smith	Updated [Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Source, Damage, Narrative, ]
05-Dec-2014 09:43	Anon.	Updated [Total fatalities, Other fatalities, ]
05-Dec-2014 09:43	Anon.	Updated [Total fatalities, Other fatalities, Departure airport, Destination airport, ]
09-Jun-2022 22:30	Ron Averes	Updated [Location, ]
20-May-2025 16:54	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Total occupants, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, ]
31-May-2025 05:19	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Source, Narrative, Category, ]