Date:	Saturday 24 April 1948
Time:	c. 18:00 LT
Type:	de Havilland DH.82A Tiger Moth
Owner/operator:	John Bernard Holmes
Registration:	VH-AAK
MSN:	3746
Engine model:	de Havilland Gipsy Major
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Elmslie, Jindera, Riverina, Greater Hume Shire, NSW -   Australia
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Private
Departure airport:	Albury Aerodrome, NSW (ABX/YMAY)
Destination airport:	Albury Aerodrome, NSW (ABX/YMAY)

Narrative:
The de Havilland DH.82A Tiger Moth was written off (destroyed) 24.4.48 when the aircraft clipped high-tension wires at a farm while flying at a low altitude and crashed near a house at Jindera, near Albury NSW. The two individuals aboard John Bernard Holmes (pilot/owner) and Valentine William Frederick 'Bluey' Flood (passenger) were killed and the aircraft was destroyed.

As reported in a contemporary local newspaper (The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW) Sunday 25 April 1948 Page 3):

Plane crashes after hitting power lines - Two Dead
ALBURY, Saturday
Two young pilots were killed instantly this evening when their plane crashed after striking high-tension wires about 15 miles from Albury. Eye-witnesses said the plane had been flying low before it hit the wires. The men killed were: John Holmes, 23, of Glenferrie, Victoria and William Flood, 19, of Fawkner, Victoria.

Both men had been employed for some months by private companies at Albury aerodrome. Holmes was married and had a child a few months old. Flood was a single man.

Holmes and Flood were flying at a height of about 30 feet in a Tiger Moth when the plane hit high-tension wires at 6 p.m. There was a blinding flash, then the plane nose-dived into the ground. The wires wrapped themselves around the propeller and the propeller shaft. The engine was torn from the machine and fell about 60 feet away from the rest of the plane. The wreckage fell 150 yards from the home of Mr. Albert Frederick Schultz, who lives at Elmslie, Jindera. Members of the Schultz family dragged the men from the plane. One of the men was dead. The other was alive, but died on the way to Albury Hospital.

Police say they do not know why the plane was flying at such a low level. There were no landing grounds in the vicinity. Mr. Schultz said: "The machine flew over our roof-top about 6 p.m. The engine appeared to be running smoothly and the plane was so low that we could see both occupants. In the fading light the pilot would not have seen the electric wires which the plane struck."

The bodies of the two men were taken to Albury morgue. Immediately Albury police received news of the accident they drove out to Elmslie to make inquiries. Civil Aviation authorities will open an inquiry on Monday in to the fatality.

Registration VH-AAK cancelled as "destroyed" 7.6.48. William Flood's full name was Valentine William Frederick FLOOD aka William 'Bluey' Flood. William was born in the suburb of Kew, Victoria in 1916.

Jindera is a small town in the South West Slopes section of the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The town is situated in the Greater Hume Shire local government area, 15 kilometres (9.3 miles) north of the regional centre of Albury

1. The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW) Sunday 25 April 1948 Page 3 Plane crashes after hitting power lines; two dead: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/248177670
2. Border Morning Mail (Albury, NSW) Monday 26 April 1948 Page 1 Two Men Die in Plane Crash Near Jindera:
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/263460298
3. Barrier Daily Truth (Broken Hill, NSW) Monday 26 Apr 1948 Page 1 Two Men Killed in Albury Plane Crash: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/141685567
4. Narendara Argus and Riverina Advertiser (Narendara NSW) Tuesday 27 April 1948 Page 2 TWO DIE IN AIR CRASH NEAR ALBURY: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/101248875
5. The Age (Melbourne, Vic.) 26 April 1948 Two Killed in Plane Crash: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/206880367
6. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/production-lists/DH82.pdf
7. https://www.austairdata.com.au/component/rsdirectory/entry/view/8881:vh-aak-2
8. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_VH-A.html
9. http://www.adf-serials.com.au/2a17a.htm
10. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/p037.html
11. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/93657709/john-bernard-holmes
12. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Flood-3015
13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albury_Airport#History
14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jindera
.

c/no. 3746 (Gipsy Major engine#81473): C of A 6410 issued to De Havilland Australia 13.10.38. Registered as VH-AAK (C of R 741) 2.10.39 to Aero Club of Broken Hill. To RAAF as A17-23 12.1.40 at 2 EFTS Archerfield, Brisbane Queensland. Forced landing due to engine failure at Archerfield 16.4.41. No damage recorded. Heavy landing on port wheel at Archerfield 2.8.41. Damage sustained to fuselage centre section. Repaired and returned to service. To 5 EFTS RAAF Narromine 13.4.42. To 1 AOS 31.8.42. To 11 EFTS Benalla 30.11.42. Put up for sale 10.46 from CMU Benalla.

Struck off charge when sold 2.6.47 to John B Holmes, Pascoe Vale, Victoria; issued to purchaser 24.6.47. Registration VH-AAK restored 22.3.48 to John B. Holmes, Albury, NSW.

Written off (destroyed) 24.4.48 when crashed Elmslie, Jindera, Riverina, Greater Hume Shire, NSW as per the above. Registration VH-AAK cancelled 7.6.48.

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
13-Oct-2023 13:49	hmmptwizzle	Added
28-Mar-2025 15:14	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Cn, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Category, ]
30-Mar-2025 21:03	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Location, Source, Narrative, ]
13-Apr-2025 02:26	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative, ]