Date:	Tuesday 19 April 1949
Time:	12:30 LT
Type:	de Havilland DH-82A Tiger Moth
Owner/operator:	The Truscott Club for Aeronauts
Registration:	VH-AJF
MSN:	DHA.304
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Middle Head, Little Manly Cove, Sydney Harbour, Sydney, NSW -   Australia
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Private
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-AJF, The Truscott Club for Aeronauts: Written off (damaged beyond economic repair) 19.4.49 when crashed into Sydney Harbour, Sydney, NSW at Middle Head, Little Manley Cove, half-a-mile offshore, due to engine failure. Both crew were rescued by boats sent out to the crash site. As reported at the time by a contemporary local newspaper "(Daily Mirror (Sydney, NSW) Thursday 19 April 1949 Page 1):

"TWO AIRMEN ESCAPE INJURY DURING CRASH INTO HARBOR
Lucky To Be Alive
TWO young airmen had remarkable escapes from serious injury when their Tiger Moth 'plane crashed into the Harbour off Middle Head this afternoon.

Hundreds of ferry passengers and Holiday crowds at Manly beach saw the plane strike the. surface of the water and throw up a tremendous splash.

THE airmen were Ralph John A Naughton (21), Queenscliffe Rd., Queenscliffe, who was piloting the plane, and Trevor Harold Sutton (21) of Brown St., Campsie. Mr. Naughton, shaking with shock, said later that the engine cut out at about 2000 feet over -Manly Beach and that he was forced to crash the machine into the Harbour.

Hundreds of people who saw the spectacular crash landing feared that the occupants of the plane had been killed. Aircraft crash boats were summoned from Rose Bay but assistance was immediately given the occupants of the plane by three youths in a rowing boat.

Little Damage
The aircraft, which was the property of the Truscott Aero Club, at Bankstown, was not extensively damaged and was later towed into Little Manly Beach. Both Mr. Naughton and Mr. Sutton, who is a student pilot and an aircraft engineer, are employed by De Havilland Aircraft Co. at Bankstown.

Mr. Naughton was giving Mr. Sutton experience in flying during their lunch hour. The Tiger Moth took off from Bankstown about noon, and after circling over the Harbour for nearly an hour, engine trouble developed.

Mr. Naughton said: "We were about 2500 feet up when the motor suddenly stopped. I took a quick look for a possible landing area and made for Middle Head. I knew we were really in trouble when we approached Middle Head and could see no thing but rough undergrowth. I glided around and looked for the nearest boat. 'Then I saw a rowing boat about a mile and a half off Manly wharf and, as the sea was smooth as glass, I thought I had a good chance of 'ditching' the plane safely. I was tense and sweating with anxiety as the plane came down to water level. I stalled her and sat her down on the tail and then she hit. I was thrown forward and shocked," he said.

Mr. Sutton said that his friend had done a wonderful job in getting the plane down safely: "We were certainly lucky to get out of that alive," he added.

Mr R. Jackson, Rickard St., Balgowlah, said he saw the aircraft glide down the harbour with the motor cut, as if to land. "It made a perfect approach, but as the plane flattened out the undercarriage dug into the water, driving the nose well under," he said. "There was a terrific splash, and when this settled only the tail was protruding from the water," he said.

As reported above, the aircraft was towed ashore, but was deemed "damaged beyond repair" due to impact damage and prolonged immersion in salt water. Registration VH-AJF cancelled 6.8.51.

1. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/production-lists/DH82.pdf
2. Daily Mirror (Sydney, NSW) Thursday 19 April 1949 Page 1: TWO AIRMEN ESCAPE INJURY DURING CRASH INTO HARBOR: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/274762932
3. The Newcastle Sun (Newcastle, NSW) Thursday 19 April 1949: Plane Down In Sydney Harbour: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/158243776
4. Hobart Mercury (Hobart, Tasmania) Saturday 21 April 1949: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/1896193#
5. http://www.adf-serials.com.au/2a17a.htm
6. https://www.austairdata.com.au/component/rsdirectory/entry/view/9737:vh-ajf-2
7. Photo of crash: https://www.edcoatescollection.com/ac1/austa/VH-AJF%281%29.html
8. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/pAus3.html
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Manly_Beach
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manly,_New_South_Wales
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Heads#Middle_Head

c/no. DHA.304: Taken on charge as A17-285 at 2 Aircraft Depot, RAAF Richmond, NSW 17.3.41. To 2 EFTS RAAF Archerfield, Brisbane, Queensland 31.3.41. Aircraft was a Gift from Goomeri Warplane Fund and named \"Barambah I\". To 5 EFTS RAAF Narromine, NSW 13.4.42. To De Havilland Australia at Mascot, Sydney, NSW 25.7.43 for overhaul, but instead transferred to 5 Squadron RAAF, Toogoolawah 2.8.43. To 5 EFTS RAAF Narromine, NSW 5.10.43. To 10 EFTS RAAF Temora 26.6.44. Withdrawn from service to storage reserve 20.8.45; transferred to Care & Maintenance Unit 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, NSW; issued to them 25.11.46. Registered as VH-AJF (C of R 1272) 23.4.47 to The Truscott Club for Aeronauts, Bankstown, Sydney, NSW.

Badly damaged in crash into Sydney Harbour 19.4.49 following engine failure as per the above; both crew rescued. Aircraft towed ashore, but was deemed \"damaged beyond repair\" due to impact damage and prolonged immersion in salt water. Registration VH-AJF cancelled 6.8.51.

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
24-Apr-2025 21:21	Dr. John Smith	Added