Date:	Tuesday 11 December 1956
Time:	08:45 LT
Type:	de Havilland DH-82A Tiger Moth
Owner/operator:	Casino Aero Club
Registration:	VH-ALT
MSN:	DHA.997
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Wilsons River at Steve King’s Plains, near Wyrallah, Casino, NSW -   Australia
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	Lismore Airport, Lismore, NSW (LSY/YLIS)
Destination airport:	Lismore Airport, Lismore, NSW (LSY/YLIS)

Narrative:
DH.82A Tiger Moth VH-ALT, Casino Aero Club, Casino, NSW: Written off (destroyed) when spun in and crashed into Wilsons River at Steve King’s Plains, near Wyrallah, Casino, NSW 11.12.56. The most complete account of the incident seems to have been in the ATSB Safety Digest Issue No.10 dated June 1957 (see link #2)

Pilot Unable to Terminate DH.82 Spin
Unable to effect recovery from a spin deliberately entered at a height of 5,000 feet, a student pilot on a solo training flight in a DH.82 crashed into the north arm of the Wilsons River near Wyrallah, New South Wales. The pilot escaped with minor facial cuts and bruises but the aircraft was substantially damaged.

On the morning of the 11th December, 1956, after completing a check flight consisting of take-offs and landings on the Lismore aerodrome, the pilot was approved by tne flight instructor for a solo flight in which steep turns and spins were to be practised.

The pilot stated that he took off shortly after 08:30 hours and climbed to 5,000 feet where several turns were commenced before the aircraft was placed in a spin to the left which was entered from a straight stall. The spin appeared quite normal and after three turns the pilot attempted recovery. He claims to have used the proper corrective control but the aircraft failed to respond.

After a further three turns he tried various control positions without success until apparently after some 12-15 turns the nose position of the aircraft became higher in relation to the horizon and the rate of rotation slowed down. The pilot reports that the spin continued in this flatter attitude until the aircraft struck the water a few feet out from the bank of the north arm of the Wilsons River at a point about 7 miles South South-West of Lismore.

The centre section struts bowed outwards, permitting partial collapse of the upper mainplanes and the fuselage fractured at the joint just aft of the rear cockpit which allowed the rear fuselage to hinge downwards to a horizontal attitude with the empennage resting on the bank of the river. The pilot was able to leave the aircraft without assistance and made his way to the bank of the river.

The nature of the crash damage precluded any check being made of the aircraft rigging. There is evidence that its rigging may not have been accurate as it is reported to have flown approximately 4°-5° right wing low "hands off". In addition, to correct a yaw to the left a light metal trim tab had been fitted to the rudder to provide adjustment additional to the maximum obtainable with the standard bias spring system.

The possibility that rigging errors so affected the flight characteristics of the aircraft as to produce a dangerous spin reaction has been considered but since normal spin performance had been exhibited by the aircraft on numerous flights within the preceding few weeks this is regarded as most improbable.

The pilot held a student pilot licence and had flown a total of 25 hours since commencing flying training in July, 1956. Of this time all but 45 minutes were flown in DH.82A aircraft. He received his first instruction in spin recovery during August, a few weeks prior to his first solo flight, and received further instruction in the sequence two weeks before the accident. The flight instructor's assessment recorded at the time of the pilot's performance on each occasion was satisfactory.

Three days after the accident he was given a test in spin recovery, in a Chipmunk, and his technique could not be faulted. However, it is considered that the pilot's performance both up to and after the accident is no indication that he took the correct action at the time of the accident, which was the first occasion on which he had attempted this manoeuvre unaccompanied by a flight instructor.

It is considered that the probable cause of the accident was that the pilot applied incorrect flight control movements when attempting to recover from a spin."

Registration VH-ALT cancelled 11.1.57. Wilsons River, a perennial river and part of the Richmond River catchment, is situated in the Northern Rivers district of New South Wales, Australia.

1. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/production-lists/DH82.pdf
2. ATSB Safety Digest No.10, June 1957 p.32-3: https://www.atsb.gov.au/sites/default/files/media/5774707/asd_10_jun_57.pdf
3. https://airwaysmuseum.com/Downloads/DCA%20accident%20reports%201956%20to%201968%20v2.pdf
4. https://www.austairdata.com.au/component/rsdirectory/entry/view/10003:vh-alt-2
5. https://edcoatescollection.com/ac1/austa/vh-alt.html
6. http://www.adf-serials.com.au/2a17b.htm
7. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/pAus9.html
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richmond_River#Course_and_features
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lismore_Airport
10. https://mapcarta.com/N114651529
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilsons_River_(New_South_Wales)
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wyrallah,_New_South_Wales
.

c/no. DHA.997: Taken on charge as A17-562 at 2 Aircraft Depot, RAAF Richmond, NSW 8.7.42. To 1 AOS RAAF Cootamundra 3.8.42. To 11 EFTS RAAF Benalla, Victoria 5.8.42; withdrawn from service to storage reserve 7.5.45. To General Reconnaissance School, RAAF Bairnsdale 11.6.45. Transferred to Care & Maintenance Unit 1.3.46 for long-term storage pending disposal; put up for sale 7.6.46.

Struck off charge when sold 2.6.47 for £83 to Ernest J McBurnie; issued to him 11.8.47. Registered VH-ALT (C o of R 1788) 16.5.51 to Ernest J McBurnie, Tarwin Lower, Victoria. Re-registered 11.7.51 to Gordon Greig, Islington, NSW. Re-registered 23.11.51 to Newcastle Aero Club, Broadmeadow, NSW. Badly damaged on take-off at Manna Park Airstrip, NSW 8.11.52. Owner renamed Royal Newcastle Aero Club 2.53; registration restored 23.5.53 (presumably after repairs/rebuild). Operated (by December 1956) to (associated) Casino Aero Club, Casino, NSW.

Spun in and crashed into Wilsons River at Steve King’s Plains, near Wyrallah, Casino, NSW 11.12.56; Registration VH-ALT cancelled 11.1.57.

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
10-May-2025 18:43	Dr. John Smith	Added
17-May-2025 14:23	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative, ]