ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 27122
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| Date: | Wednesday 9 June 1937 |
| Time: | 18:40 LT |
| Type: |  de Havilland DH.60 Moth |
| Owner/operator: | Australian National Airways |
| Registration: | VH-ULH |
| MSN: | Genairco 7 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | St. George's C of E Church, Malvern Oval, Malvern, VIC -
 Australia
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Passenger - Scheduled |
| Departure airport: | Benalla Airport, Benalla, Victoria (BEN/YBLA) |
| Essendon, Melbourne (MED/YMEB) |
DH.60X [Cirrus II] registered as VH-ULH [C of R 306] 30.7.29 to General Aircraft Co Ltd, Mascot, NSW [and was actually principally a rebuild of DH.60X G-AUHA, c/no. 426, which had crashed 11.2.29]. Re-registered 13.8.29 to A S Elkin & R F Walker, Sydney, NSW. Crashed at Mascot, NSW 7.12.29; passenger died from injuries; registration cancelled 18.12.29 as "withdrawn from use".
Re-registered 6.11.30 to H Peel, Coogee, NSW. Registration cancelled as "lapsed" 5.11.32. Fitted with Gipsy I engine and registered 30.11.32 to G H Purvis, Sydney [based Hillston, NSW]. Registered 12.10.33 to Mrs E H McDonnell, Mascot, NSW. Registered 25.9.34 to Dr G A M Heydon, Mascot, NSW.
Registration restored 1.4.35 to Mrs E H McDonnell, Mascot. Reverted to Cirrus II engine. C of A lapsed 29.11.35 and registration cancelled as "lapsed" 16.4.36. Registration restored 7.5.36 to same owner. Re-registered 24.7.36 to Holyman's Airways Pty Ltd, Launceston, Tasmania. Registered 25.11.36 to Australian National Airways Ltd, Essendon. Melbourne, Victoria [reportedly fitted with Gipsy I engine].
Shortly afterwards, on 9.6.37, the aircraft was being flown by Jack Macalister who was attempting a night landing at Essendon Airport, Melbourne. Due to heavy fog, he flew over the city looking for an alternate landing ground. Attempting to land at the Malvern Oval he struck the spire of St. George's Anglican church and crashed. Fortunately, neither Jack nor his passenger were seriously injured, but the damage to VH-ULH was such that it was written off.
According to a contemporary local newspaper report (The Argus (Melbourne, Victoria) Thursday 10 June 1937 Page 9 - see link #1):
"PILOT'S PLIGHT IN FOG
CRASH INTO WALL OF CHURCH
Young Men's Escape
LOST OVER SUBURBS
Lost in dense fog over the city last evening, a young pilot and his passenger had a remarkable escape from death when their plane crashed into St. George's Church of England, Malvern, at 6.40 p.m.
They were returning from a visit to Benalla, and when they reached Essendon, the pilot was unable to find the aerodrome in the fog.
After flying over the city for three-quarters of an hour he endeavoured to land on the Malvern Recreation ground, and in doing so the plane struck the church. The pilot and his passenger were only slightly injured.
The occupants of the plane were -
MACALISTER, JOHN PETER, aged 19 years, aero engineer, of Thorne Street, Essendon.
SLOANE, NEIL, aged 19 years, wool sorter, of Mulwala (N.S.W.).
Both were still in their seats when the plane fell into the church grounds. They suffered from shock and Macalister suffered slight lacerations to the scalp. Otherwise, they were uninjured.
Macalister and Sloane set out in the morning on a cross-country flight to Benalla. They intended to leave on the return journey shortly after 3 p.m. and were expected to reach Essendon at 4.30 p.m., but they were delayed at Benalla, and left at 4 45 pm They were flying a DH60 Moth biplane VH-ULH belonging to Australian National Airways Pty Ltd with sufficient petrol for about three hours' flying. Macalister who is an A grade pilot was piloting the plane from the rear cockpit.
Sloane was seated in the front cockpit. The lost plane was heard over St Kilda by Captain K M Frewin soon after 6 pm. Captain Frewin knew from the sound of the engine that It was throttled back to save petrol. He immediately sent a telephone message to Mr K Hart of the Hart Aviation Service, who instructed night landing flares to be laid out, and Verey pistols to be fired at Essendon airport, in an attempt to attract the attention of the pilot.
Macalister decided to make a forced landing while he still had enough petrol to correct any error he might make. He saw the clear space as a dark open area near the Malvern Town Hall but he failed to see the church. Residents nearby said that the engine slowed down as the plane passed the town hall. A second later they heard a crash. The starboard wing struck the roof edge of the transept and collapsed.
The plane struck the ground with great force, tearing down a power wire, and narrowly missing three valuable memorial windows above the doorway of the transept.
The power wire dropped to earth clear of the wreckage, and escaping petrol from the shattered tank flowed away from the wire. The port wings were torn off when they struck the wire, the fuselage was split and the propellor and undercarriage was torn off. Damage to the church consisted of broken tiles and some wood work and a fallen spouting.
Mr C Pullman of Myamyn street, Malvern, Sub-Inspector Dower, and Sergeant West of Malvern, found Sloane walking about in a dazed condition when they reached the wrecked plane. Macalister was seated in the cockpit and he said 'It's all right, I can walk'. He was stunned by the shock, and his head was bleeding. Both youths were removed to a doctor's surgery
The Rev J Tysen, the vicar of St. George's Church, who lives in the vicarage adjoining the church said that he heard a loud noise as if a heavy motor lorry had been driven into the church grounds. He was not aware that the plane had struck the church until he saw the lights of police patrol cars focused on to the wreckage"
Ten DH.60 Moths were rebuilt by General Aircraft Co Ltd of Mascot, Sydney, NSW between August 1929 and November 1930. The first Genairco-built Moth was VH-ULH (c/no 7); it is assumed that the c/no series simply followed on from the DHA assemblies in the 20s. The c/nos. were "Genairco 7" to "Genairco 19" (c/no. Genairco 13 was not used - possibly due to superstition?!)
Genairco built three DH.60X Moths and then followed these with nine redesigned Moths fitted with Cirrus Hermes engines. These aircraft are usually referred to either as Genaircos or as Genairco Moths.
Malvern is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 8 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Stonnington local government area.
Sources:
1.The Argus (Melbourne, Victoria) Thursday 10 June 1937 Page 9: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/11070692
2. http://www.edcoatescollection.com/ac1/austu/VH-ULH.html
3. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_VH-U.html
4. https://baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-de-havilland-dh60g-gipsy-moth-malvern
5. https://ab-ix.co.uk/pdfs/dh60.pdf
6. http://www.orpheusweb.co.uk/vicsmith/OldAccs/Dec29.html
7. As G-AUHA: https://www.afleetingpeace.org/index.php/page-australian-register/g-au?highlight=WyJ2aC11bGgiXQ==
8. As VH-ULH: https://www.afleetingpeace.org/index.php/page-australian-register/vh-ua-um?highlight=WyJ2aC11bGgiXQ==
9. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/p004.html
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malvern,_Victoria
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 27-Sep-2008 01:00 | ASN archive | Added |
| 22-Jan-2014 02:45 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Cn, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Damage, Narrative] |
| 09-Jun-2022 20:19 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location] |
| 15-Oct-2023 06:28 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [[Location]] |
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