Date:	Thursday 21 August 1958
Time:	day
Type:	de Havilland DH-82A Tiger Moth
Owner/operator:	Rural Aviation Co, Maylands
Registration:	VH-BNY
MSN:	DHA.196
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	7 miles West of Dalwallinu, near Moora, WA -   Australia
Phase:	Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Nature:	Agricultural
Departure airport:	Maylands Aerodrome, Perth, Western Australia
Destination airport:	7 miles West of Dalwallinu, near Moora, WA

Narrative:
DH.82A Tiger Moth VH-BNY, Rural Aviation Co, Maylands: Written off (damaged beyond repair) 21.8.58 when truck telephone wires on landing 7 miles West of Dalwallinu, near Moora, WA during agricultural operations (crop-dusting/top dressing). The pilot survived, albeit with minor injuries. The incident was reported in detail in the DCA Aviation Safety Digest (Issue 20, December 1959):

"LUCK'S A FORTUNE While It Lasts
During August of last year in Western Australia an agricultural DH.82 aircraft struck a telephone line during an approach to land in a field 100 miles north-east of Perth. It fell on to a road, slid over a mound, through a fence and stood on its nose in low scrub bordering the field. Fire broke out but was quickly extinguished by a bystander as the pilot released himself from the wrecked aircraft.

When a 50-hourly maintenance inspection became due on his aircraft this pilot, who had been engaged on aerial spraying work, decided to travel south looking for an engineer. He had not gone far when light rain began to fall from a lowering cloud base and then he noticed another DH.82 aircraft and a caravan parked in a field alongside the highway which he had been following. In the hope that an engineer would be available and, if not, that a stopover might see an improvement in the weather, the pilot decided to land. Although the field was quite a large one and there was very little wind he elected to follow, a curved approach path, taking the aircraft over the caravan across the highway with its bordering telephone lines and trees before putting down in the field. Since there were some 2,500 feet of straight run ahead there was absolutely no need to cut things fine on the approach; nevertheless, the aircraft struck the top of an 18-foot telephone post with its left lower mainplane and went through the very noisy, expensive, and highly dangerous sequence which has been described above".

The aircraft came to rest with the fuselage standing almost vertical and with very considerable damage to the mainplanes and forward fuselage. Almost immediately fire broke out in the engine area and quickly spread to the fabric on either side of the fuselage. Although the pilot suffered only a cut nose, be experienced some difficulty in releasing himself from his harness because of the attitude of the aircraft, and during this time the quickly spreading fire was a very real threat to his life. It so happened that the pilot of the aircraft, which was parked on the field, watched the approach, and the accident occurred only some 30 yards from where he was standing alongside his caravan. By a strange coincidence there had just been a small fire in the caravan and the extinguisher he had used was in a handy position just outside the door. He raced to the aircraft with it and within 10-12 seconds of the foam being applied, the fire was out. He then assisted the pilot involved in the accident out of the cockpit.

To add to the hazard of the situation the hand fire extinguisher in the aircraft was jarred loose from its retaining bracket in the impact and was thrown forward beneath the spray tank out of the pilot's reach.

This pilot has said that his view was obscured by rain and mist on his goggles. The remedy for that seems simple enough, but the fact remains that the approach was carried out over obstructions in the approach path with far less than a safe clearance. He could have flown over the telephone lines and trees with 50 feet to spare and still have been able to land straight ahead with more than ample room for the landing roll. It has been concluded that the cause of this accident was that the pilot attempted to make a landing approach with less than a safe clearance over obstructions and failed to fly the aircraft with the precision which this attempt demanded".

Aircraft burst into flames on impact, and destroyed by fire. As per the caption of the photograph of the incident (see link #3)

"VH-BNY seen in this photo after striking power lines during landing at Dalwallinu, WA on 21 August 1958, while operating as a crop-duster with Rural Aviation Co, Perth. This was one of a number of small crop-dusting companies formed by pioneer WA agricultural pilot Hal Watts during the 1950s. Watts was the pilot on this occasion, and escaped with minor injuries but VH-BNY was a write-off. It was last seen in the back of a hangar at Maylands when the aerodrome was closed in June 1963".

Registration VH-BNY cancelled 3.8.59.

Dalwallinu, colloquially called Dally, is a town in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, located 248 km from Perth via the Great Northern Highway.

1. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/production-lists/DH82.pdf
2. DCA Aviation Safety Digest (Issue 20, December 1959): https://www.atsb.gov.au/sites/default/files/media/5774717/asd_20_dec_59.pdf
3. https://www.edcoatescollection.com/ac1/austb/VH-BNY.html
4. https://airwaysmuseum.com/Downloads/DCA%20accident%20reports%201956%20to%201968%20v2.pdf
5. https://www.austairdata.com.au/component/rsdirectory/entry/view/12341:vh-bny-1
6. http://www.adf-serials.com.au/2a17a.htm
7. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/pAus1.html
8. https://goodall.com.au/photographs/tiger-moths/TIGER%20MOTHS1960s.html
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalwallinu,_Western_Australia

c/no. DHA.196: Taken on charge as A17-195 and delivered to 2 Aircraft Depot, RAAF Richmond, NSW 16.12.40. To 9 EFTS RAAF Cunderdin, WA 1.1.41. To MMA Maylands, Perth, WA 24.8.42 for overhaul. Upon completion, returned to 9 EFTS RAAF Cunderdin, WA 12.10.42. Overturned on landing RAAF Cunderdin, WA 5.8.43; repaired and returned to service. Withdrawn from service to storage reserve 8.1.45; to 86 OBU Cunderdin 11.6.45 for long term storage pending disposal. Put up for sale 6.12.45; to Care & Maintenance Unit 2.4.46.

Struck off charge when sold 2.12.46 for £30 to K Vine; issued 23.12.46. Registered as VH-BNY (C of R 1639) 1.5.49 to Federal Methodist Inland Mission, Kew, Victoria. Re-registered 12.3.54 to Stanley C Doggett, t/a Doggett Aviation & Engineering Co, Maylands, Perth, WA. Re-registered 17.2.55 to Charles R New, Mount Lawley, WA. Re-registered 24.2.56 to Midland Brick Co Pty Ltd, West Perth, WA. Re-registered (again) to Charles New, 22 Regent Street, Mount Lawley WA 12.11.56. Re-registered 28.6.57 to Reginald Currell, 43 Seventh Avenue Maylands, Perth, WA. Re-registered 9.1.58 to Rural Aviation Co, Maylands, Perth, WA.

Struck telephone wires on landing 7 miles West of Dalwallinu, near Moora, WA during agricultural operations (crop-dusting/top dressing) as per the above. Aircraft burst into flames on impact, and destroyed by fire. Pilot survived with only minor injuries. Registration VH-BNY cancelled 3.8.59.

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
14-Apr-2025 18:18	Dr. John Smith	Added
16-Apr-2025 09:38	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Source, Narrative, ]
01-Jun-2025 06:53	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Destination airport, Source, Narrative, ]