Date:	Wednesday 18 August 1943
Time:	morning
Type:	de Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide
Owner/operator:	Australian National Airways
Registration:	VH-UXT
MSN:	6346
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 4
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Wynyard Aerodrome, Wynyard, Tasmania -   Australia
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Passenger - Scheduled
Departure airport:	Essendon, Melbourne (MEB/YMEN)
Destination airport:	Wynyard, Tasmania (BWT/YWYY)

Narrative:
c/no. 6346: C of A 5862 issued 2.4.37. Shipped on the s.s. 'Moreton Bay' 4.37; assembled Essendon, Melbourne April-May 1937. Registered VH-UXT [CofR 641] 25.5.37 to Australian National Airways Pty Ltd, Essendon; named "Mundoora".

Badly damaged on landing at Kingscote, Kangaroo Island, South Australia 5.2.38; repaired Essendon and re-flown 20.9.38. Registration cancelled 19.7.40 when impressed into RAAF as A33-4, and to 3 EFTS Essendon same day. To 1 AOS Cootamundra 28.10.40. To DCA (Director of Civil Aviation) 15.4.42.

Registration VH-UXT restored 21.4.42 to Commonwealth Government. To Airlines of Australia Ltd, Sydney, NSW and operated by Australian National Airways.

Written off (damaged beyond repair) 18.8.43: Crashed on landing at Wynyard Aerodrome, Wynard, Tasmania and ran into ditch. Captain F. H. Dawson and 3 passengers sustained slight injuries (cuts and bruises)

As reported in a contemporary local newspaper (The Advocate (Burnie, Tasmania) Thursday 19 August 1943 Page 2):

"Plane Crashes After Landing at Wynyard
Crashing into a drain after landing and overrunning the runway at the Wynyard aerodrome yesterday morning, the mail 'plane from Melbourne was extensively damaged, but the passengers and pilot escaped serious injury.

As the 'plane struck the drain at the western end of the 'drome, the machine was thrown on to its nose, forcing the tail high into the air. The three passengers - Misses J. Snare and M.Green, of Melbourne, and Mr. J. C. Cumming, of Burnie, were thrown violently to the front of the machine, but the pilot. Mr. F. H. Dawson, who was strapped in, was saved by his safety belt.

Messrs. G. A. Cutts, of the Vacuum Oil Co., and W. A. Touzeau and H. Fraser, who were at the 'drome when the plane landed, immediately rushed to the scene of the accident. The passengers and pilot had to be extricated through the windows of the cockpit.

The pilot sustained slight cuts to both hands, caused through the broken glass from the windows, while Misses Snare and Green both suffered shock. They were conveyed to the Spencer Hospital, but allowed to leave later in the day and continue their journey to Ulverstone. Mr. Cumming was uninjured".

Not repaired and used for spares; some parts to shipped to Perth on the s.s. 'Lowana' and used to help rebuild VH-UZY in March 1944. Registration VH-UXT cancelled 31.10.43

1. The Advocate (Burnie, Tasmania) Thursday 19 August 1943 Page 2 'Plane Crashes After Landing at Wynyard': https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/68821328
2. Adelaide News (Adelaide, SA) Thursday 19 August 1943 Page 3 'Plane Over-Runs Landing Ground, Crashes in Ditch': https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/127320554
3. Launceston Examiner (Launceston, Tasmania) Friday 20 August 1943 Page 4 'Mail Plane Crash': https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/92639453
4. https://www.ab-ix.co.uk/pdfs/dh89.pdf
5. http://www.adf-serials.com.au/2a33.htm
6. http://www.aviationcollection.org/ANA/ana.htm
7. http://www.goodall.com.au/australian-aviation/dh89/dh89.htm
8. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-de-havilland-dh89-dragon-rapide-wynyard
9. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_VH-U1.html
10. http://www.afleetingpeace.org/index.php/15-aeroplanes/84-register-australia
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burnie_Airport#History
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wynyard,_Tasmania
.

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
27-Sep-2008 01:00	ASN archive	Added
27-Dec-2011 18:52	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Cn, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Nature, Destination airport, Source, Damage, Narrative, ]
10-Mar-2014 02:52	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Total occupants, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, ]
09-May-2014 01:14	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Destination airport, Source, Narrative, ]
20-Feb-2019 18:00	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Source, ]
20-Feb-2019 18:11	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, ]
07-Jun-2022 06:36	Ron Averes	Updated [Location, ]
23-Mar-2025 03:17	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Location, Source, Narrative, Category, ]
23-Mar-2025 03:19	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative, ]