Date:	Sunday 23 October 1949
Time:	day
Type:	de Havilland DH-82A Tiger Moth
Owner/operator:	Truscott Flying Club
Registration:	VH-AJE
MSN:	DHA.186
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Powell's Creek, near Parramatta Road Homebush, Sydney, NSW -   Australia
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	Bankstown Airport, Sydney, NSW (BWU/YSBK)
Destination airport:	Bankstown Airport, Sydney, NSW (BWU/YSBK)
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
DH.82A Tiger Moth VH-AJE, Truscott Flying Club: Written off (destroyed) 23 October 1949 when crashed in a forced landing into Powell's Creek, Homebush, Sydney, NSW. As described by one source (see link #5)

"On 23 October 1949, a 21-year-old pilot ran into trouble over Homebush when the engine of his Tiger Moth cut out. On a training flight from Bankstown Aerodrome with the Truscott Flying Club, William Fraser searched desperately for a place to land. From 1,500 feet he spotted the recreation grounds of the Arnott’s biscuit factory near Parramatta Road and made that his goal. On his second attempt he just cleared the high-tension wires but the wind caught the Moth, hurling it into a tall sewage vent, snapping one wing. The plane hit a small iron footbridge over Powell's Creek before plunging into the stormwater canal below. Somehow Fraser climbed out of the debris with only a small cut to his upper lip.

As the Sun newspaper reported at the time: ‘Had the plane been 15ft higher when it hit the steel pipe it would have crashed into the side of the factory'.

The incident was just one of several accidents suffered by pilots from the Truscott Flying Club during 1949 alone. In April another Tiger Moth had crashed into Sydney Harbour. The pilot and his passenger were rescued by three boys in a boat. Truscott Flying Club, named after WWII flying Ace, ‘Bluey’ Truscott, who was killed during WWII, was short-lived and had been sold by December 1950.

Today a small, disused bridge stands in almost exactly the same position over Powell's Creek as the bridge damaged by Fraser’s Tiger Moth in 1949. New playground equipment has been installed nearby in Ismay Reserve, which now occupies the site of the former Arnott’s recreation grounds, in the shadow of the M4".

Registration VH-AJE cancelled 28.2.50.

Homebush is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 12 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Strathfield.

1. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/production-lists/DH82.pdf
2. The Sun (Sydney, NSW) 22 October 1949 p.1: Tiger Moth smashed in crash, but pilot escapes unhurt:
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/229229621
3. Sydney Truth (Sydney, NSW) 23 October 1949 p.3: PLANE CRASHES IN DITCH https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/168961695
4. The Sunday Herald (Sydney, NSW) Sunday 23 October 1949 Page 4 Plane Was Wrecked - Pilot Cut His Lip: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/18471804
5. https://canadabayheritage.asn.au/homebush-plane-crash-1949/
6. https://edcoatescollection.com/ac1/austa/VH-AJE%281%29.html
7. https://www.austairdata.com.au/component/rsdirectory/entry/view/9733:vh-aje-2
8. http://www.adf-serials.com.au/2a17a.htm
9. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/pAus1.html
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homebush,_New_South_Wales

c/no.DHA.186: Taken on charge as A17-185 at 2 Aircraft Depot, RAAF Richmond, NSW 2.12.40. To 8 EFTS RAAF Narrandera, NSW 10.12.40. To De Havilland Australia at Mascot, Sydney, NSW 2.4.43 for overhaul. Upon completion, to 2 Aircraft Park 28.5.43; returned to 8 EFTS RAAF Narrandera, NSW 31.5.43. To 10 EFTS RAAF Temora 11.6.43. Damaged in crash at RAAF Temora 18.10.43; to De Havilland Australia at Mascot, Sydney, NSW 15.11.43 for repairs; DHA No. T187. Upon completion, to 2 Aircraft Park 5.1.44; returned to 10 EFTS RAAF Temora 7.1.44. Withdrawn from service to storage reserve 20.8.45. Transferred to Care & Maintenance
Unit RAAF Temora 12.3.46 for long term storage pending disposal. Put up for sale 7.6.46.

Struck off charge when sold 21.10.46 for £100 to Association of Australian Aero Clubs, Sydney; issued to them 25.11.46. Registered as VH-AJE (C of R 1641) 19.5.49 to The Truscott Club for Aeronauts t/a Truscott Flying Club, Bankstown, Sydney, NSW.

Written off (damaged beyond repair) when crashed at Homebush, near Sydney, NSW 22.10.49 as per the above. Registration VH-AJE cancelled 28.2.50.

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
13-Apr-2025 19:20	Dr. John Smith	Added