Date:	Tuesday 20 November 1984
Time:	14:30
Type:	de Havilland DH-82a Tiger Moth
Owner/operator:	Geoffrey L Cottee
Registration:	VH-PFL
MSN:	DHA.1056
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Substantial
Location:	Bankstown Airport, Bankstown, Sydney, NSW -   Australia
Phase:	Taxi
Nature:	Private
Departure airport:	Bankstown Airport, Bankstown, Sydney, NSW (YSBK)
Destination airport:	Bankstown Airport, Bankstown, Sydney, NSW (YSBK)
Investigating agency:	BASI
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:
de Havilland DH-82a Tiger Moth MSN DHA.1056; Built by DH Austraslia, at Bankstown, Sydney, NSW. Taken on charge by the RAAF as A17-725 at 2 Aircraft Park, Bankstown, Sydney, NSW 20.9.44. To 10 EFTS Temora 25.9.44. To 6 SFTS Mallala 20.7.45; transferred to Care & Maintenance Unit 31.12.45. To 1 FTS Point Cook 11.2.46 for storage. For sale 11.7.47.

Struck of charge when sold 24.10.47 for £90 to Newcastle Aero Club, Broadmeadow, NSW; issued 9.12.47. Australian civil registered as VH-BKF (C of R 1460) 25.11.47 to Air Operations (Pty) Ltd; operated by Hire or Fly Yourself Air Services (Pty) Ltd, Melbourne. Badly damaged at Ararat, Victoria 21.2.48; repaired and returned to service. Damaged when struck boundary fence on landing Bendigo, Victoria 26.12.48; repaired and returned to service. Re-registered 14.4.49 to Clarkson School of Aviation, Essendon, Melbourne, Victoria. Re-registered 29.10.49 to Arthur L.D Carter, Tamworth, NSW.

Re-registered 7.7.53 to Peter K Wilson, t/a Airfarm Associates, Tamworth, NSW. Written off (damaged beyond repair) when crashed whilst cropspraying at Walcha, NSW 17.1.56. Registration VH-BKF cancelled 17.2.56 as WFU ("Withdrawn From Use").

Rebuilt and re-registered as VH-PFL 17.3.75 to Neil B Cottee (Pty) Ltd (Pacific Film Ltd), Carlton, NSW (aircraft based at Bowral). Re-registered 12.2.80 to Neil B & Geoffrey L Cottee, Burradoo, NSW. Re-registered 31.10.80 to Geoffrey L Cottee, Pymble, NSW

Substantially damaged in an accident while taxying at Bankstown Airport, Sydney, NSW 20.11.84. According to the summary from the ATSB report into the accident:

"The aircraft was fitted with a tail skid and had no brakes. The pilot was taxiing on the grass beside the taxiway in order to increase the rolling resistance of the wheels. His attention was directed to the right, when the left lower wing struck a sign which was 6 metres from the edge of the taxiway".

Bankstown Airport is an airport and business park located in the City of Canterbury-Bankstown, approximately 26 km from the Sydney Central Business District, Australia and 17 km west of Sydney Airport

To Richard Pincus (1998). Re-registered in July 1999 to Barmeg Pty Ltd, Razorback, NSW. Crashed on landing Caloundra 2005. Re-registered 23.7.2007 to Ronald John Ennis, Rothwell, Queensland; on rebuild at Redcliffe, near Brisbane, Queensland. Re-registered VH-UXD 1.7.2009 to same party; reflown 1.8.09 (by Warwick Woinarski) at Redcliffe, Queensland. Currently registered and airworthy in Australia.

1. http://www.adf-serials.com.au/2a17c.htm
2. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/pAus10.html
3. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/production-lists/DH82.pdf
4. Tiger Moth VH-PFL (various photos 4/1979 to 2002): https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/code-number/A17-725?f=&sort=date_taken_formatted&order=asc
5. ATSB Summary of the accident: https://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/1984/aair/aair198401422/
6. ATSB Full Report of the accident: https://www.atsb.gov.au/media/27296/aair198401422.pdf
7. https://www.planelogger.com/Aircraft/Registration/A17-725/874969
8. Tiger Moth VH-PFL at Maitland, NSW (YMND) in March 1976: https://www.airhistory.net/photo/23790/VH-PFL
9. https://www.austairdata.com.au/component/rsdirectory/entry/view/29363-vh-pfl-1
10. https://www.regosearch.com/aircraft/au/UXD
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bankstown_Airport#Post_War

Other occurrences involving this aircraft

26 April 1987

VH-PFL

Geoffrey L Cottee

0

Camden Airport, Cobbitty, NSW

sub

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
13-Jul-2018 11:24	Pineapple	Added
14-Jan-2022 01:50	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Aircraft type, Cn, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Category]