Date:	Thursday 24 March 1927
Time:	09:30 LT
Type:	de Havilland DH.9C
Owner/operator:	Queensland and Northern Territory Air Service (QANTAS)
Registration:	G-AUED
MSN:	86
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Tambo, Queensland -   Australia
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Passenger - Scheduled
Departure airport:	Charleville, Queensland
Destination airport:	Tambo, Queensland
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
DeHavilland DH.9C G-AUED, of Quatas was written off (destroyed) 24 March 1927 when stalled on approach to Tambo, Queensland after flight from Charleville, Queensland.

The airplane departed Charleville at 05:30LT. The plane must have had trouble on the road as it only reached Tambo at 09:30LT (two hours late), flying very low over the river, with the engine running. Flying very low over the river, with the engine running. On final approach, the engine stopped, and a second later, the plane hit tree top and crashed. Mr. Bell was dead and Mr. Davidson died within half-an-hour, while Mr. Donaldson expired at 2 o'clock. The plane was destroyed, the engine and fuselage being smashed to pieces. The death of those on board leaves one unsolved mystery since the DH.9 apparently had made an unscheduled 35 minute stop at an unidentified location somewhere en route. (Possibly a forced landing en route due to engine failure?)

As reported in a contemporary local newspaper (The Sun (Sydney, NSW) Thursday 24 March 1927 Page 11)

"THREE DEAD:
Q'LAND AEROPLANE CRASH
NOSE DIVE
MACHINE BROKEN TO ATOMS LANDING AT TAMBO
BRISBANE, Thursday.
Two men were killed outright and another fatally injured when a passenger 'plane, owned by the Queensland and Northern Territory Air Service, crashed at Tambo to-day.

The pilot, named Davidson, and Mr. A W S Bell, of Winton, a passenger, were dead when picked up. The other passenger, Mr. Donaldson, of Rocklands, Camooweal, died later in hospital.

It is stated that it was the pilot's first trip on this service. The aeroplane had mails aboard, and was flying north from Charleville.

When passing over Tambo towards the landing-ground it appeared to be in difficulties, and only just cleared the trees on the Barcoo. When within 100 yards of the landing-ground it crashed.

A message from Rockhampton states that the 'plane is in pieces on the landing ground at Tambo. Tambo is an old-settled town, about 100 miles north of Charleville, and about 50 miles south-east of Blackall. This is the first smash experienced by the company.

Quantas machines, up to the end of last month, had flown 449,008 miles without Injury to either personnel or passengers.

The first death connected with civil aviation in Queensland was when a Courier 'plane crashed near Ipswich earlier this year, killing one passengerand injuring the pilot.

NEWS BY TELEPHONE
Additional particulars of the tragic smash were obtained by telephone from Tambo this afternoon. The 'plane was about to land when it seemed to get out of control, and crashed from a height of 500 feet.

Horrified spectators saw it make a sudden nose-dive. The propeller struck the ground first, and the machine broke up with the impact. The disaster occurred about half-past nine. The pilot and Mr. Boll were killed outright, livery bone in their bodies seemed to have been broken.

Mr. Donaldson was alive, but terribly Injured. Both legs and arms were broken, and his head badly battered. He was taken to tho Tambo Hospital, but died early this afternoon".

This accident was the first to be the subject of an investigation by Australia's newly-formed AAIC (Air Accident Investigation Committee) as "AAIC Report No. 1". It was also the first fatal accident for the airline, QANTAS

A memorial plaque was erected on the site in 2001, which reads:

"In memory
This is the site of the QANTAS De Havilland DH9C G-AUED plane crash
24th March 1927
Three lives were lost
Ian Douglas Davidson (27 years) Pilot
William Robertson Donaldson (40)
Archibald Wallace North Bell (55)

They flew with courage through clear blue skies, to their date with death. Now here they lie in a peaceful grave too young to die.
Neil Galway 2001"

The D.H.9C was one of Qantas' first aircraft and was registered to the Longreach company in November 1923
Incidentally, the aircraft had cost Qantas the sum of £1719-18s-5d. According to some sources, the wreckage of G-AUED was buried close to the crash site and may still be there.

1. Gunn, John (1985). The Defeat of Distance: QANTAS 1919–1939. Brisbane, Australia: University of Queensland Press. p. 96. ISBN 070221707
2. The Evening News (Rockhampton, Queensland), 25th March 1927: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/202411659
3. The Sun (Sydney, NSW) Thursday 24 March 1927 Page 11 THREE DEAD:
http://www.goldenyears.ukf.net/reg_G-AU.htm
4. Barrier Miner (Broken Hill, NSW) Thursday 24 March 1927 Page 1 AEROPLANE CRASH: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/45995738
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Qantas_fatal_accidents
6. http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a267086.pdf
7. http://afleetingpeace.org/index.php/aeroplanes/15-aeroplanes/84-register-australia
8. https://monumentaustralia.org.au/themes/disaster/aviation/display/100660-qantas-crash-site
9. https://www.ahsa.org.au/wp/archives/this-day-in-history/1927-03-24
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Qantas_fatal_accidents
11. G-AEUD pre-accident: https://collections.slq.qld.gov.au/viewer/IE154233
12. https://www.planecrashinfo.com/1927/1927-3.htm
13. https://historyoutthere.com/2020/11/22/qantas-history-you-dont-know/
14. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-de-havilland-dh9c-tambo-3-killed
15. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/228851084/archibald-wallace_north-bell
16. https://www.edcoatescollection.com/ac1/austu/G-AUED.html
17. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tambo,_Queensland#History

Memorial plaque to the three livews lost, erected 2001

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
17-May-2008 11:10	ASN archive	Added
03-Jan-2011 22:55	angels one five	Updated [Operator, Source, ]
03-Jan-2011 23:03	angels one five	Updated [Phase, Nature, Source, Narrative, ]
20-Oct-2013 23:54	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, ]
08-Jun-2022 05:43	Ron Averes	Updated [Location, ]
09-Jun-2022 05:29	Ron Averes	Updated [Operator, ]
27-Mar-2025 06:45	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Nature, Departure airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative, Category, ]