Date:	Thursday 4 September 1958
Time:	morning
Type:	de Havilland DH-82A Tiger Moth
Owner/operator:	Schutt Airfarmers Pty Ltd
Registration:	VH-AUD
MSN:	DHA.984
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Myrtleford, Alpine Shire, Victoria -   Australia
Phase:	Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Nature:	Agricultural
Departure airport:	Myrtleford, Alpine Shire, Victoria
Destination airport:

Narrative:
DH.82A Tiger Moth VH-AUD, Schutt Airfarmers Pty Ltd, Moorabbin, Melbourne, Victoria: Written off (damaged beyond repair) when crashed at Myrtleford, Alpine Shire, Victoria 4.9.58 while involved in agricultural (crop spraying/top dressing) operations. The incident was reported in detail in the DCA Aviation Safety Digest (Issue 20, December 1959);

"The D.H.82 and its PERFORMANCE LIMITS
Two DH.82 aircraft commenced agricultural spreading operations from a strip where the surrounding terrain made it necessary for a 90-degree right turn to be made shortly after take-off to ensure ground clearance.

The work had commenced early and during the morning the pilot of one of these aircraft found himself dangerously close to the ground as he followed the lowest available terrain, and immediately dumped the load and turned towards an open area. This involved a 180-degree turn to the left, crossing a creek with the intention of landing up the slope of cleared country above it. Despite the continued use of full power and the loss of 2/3rds of the load in the dumping operation, the performance of the aircraft was still not good enough to reach this area and it struck the bank rising from the creek. The undercarriage was wiped off and considerable damage was done to the forward section of the fuselage. The pilot escaped with only minor injuries.

The total flying experience of this pilot amounted to over 3,300 hours which included some 2,000 hours on the DH.82 type including almost 300 hours on agricultural operations, as well as being the holder of a current A2 flight instructor rating; thus, he was a very experienced pilot on this type of aircraft and in this type of operation.

Quite apart from the fact that the strip used did not meet the prescribed requirements, it is apparent that, having regard to the climb path after take-off, the aircraft was being operated to the limits of its performance capacity. It is true that a number of successful flights were made prior to the one on which the accident occurred but, on each occasion, the terrain clearance must have been very small, so much so that on any one of these flights a relatively small change in wind velocity, turbulence or a loss of engine power would have resulted in the aircraft being forced on to the ground. Operations commenced at 07:30 hours and the accident occurred some three hours later. It is not improbable that the natural temperature rise also had an influence on the course of events on this day.

There is good reason to believe that this pilot's appreciation of the performance of the DH.82 would be better than most and his manipulative skill above the average. It seems, therefore, that either he chose to ignore or failed to make a proper appraisal of possible variations in operating conditions. In a number of other accidents, it has been noted that the pilots concerned have taken off grossly overloaded for the particular operating conditions, and have relied on dumping the load to escape trouble if the aircraft failed to perform as expected. This sort of situation probably existed on this occasion. Not infrequently in these cases, however, the load fails to dump satisfactorily, the dumping has been left too late or there has not been time to dump after the emergency arises.

Clearly in this accident the aircraft was being operated in circumstances which did not provide adequate margins of safety and this is a frequent cause of agricultural accidents. It might reasonably be expected that the more experienced pilots would not be involved in this way but, unfortunately, this is not the case. From this it seems obvious that avoiding such accidents depends not so much on the breadth of knowledge of agricultural flying but the application of whatever knowledge exists in a way that is realistically related to the circumstances of the moment. Many pilots do make an assessment of what they believe are the hazards involved in any operation, but frequently these assessments are faulty because they have not appreciated all the factors involved. It is also clear from our investigations that many of these pilots operate with no margin for safety simply because they deliberately choose to accept the risks entailed. The end of the road is usually not far distant for those in this latter category.

The results of many of these inadequacies are impressive when viewed against the background of deaths and serious injuries resulting from them. We believe that it just is not reasonable to accept the risks involved but, at the same time, appreciate that it depends on how you value your life and the welfare of your family. Irrespective of your assessment of the risks involved, and the means by which you arrived at it, if you are one of those who are prepared to operate with little or no margin for safety then, in our view, it is only a matter of time before you become an accident statistic. We can't guarantee that you won't be among the fatal statistics and we don't believe that you can, either".

Registration VH-AUD cancelled 4.9.58. The incident which ended the career of this particular Tiger Moth was the third crash in under four years:

01.12.55: Badly damaged when hit fence on take-off Culcairn, NSW (1st crash)
16.05.57: Struck HT wires and crashed Nanangroe Station, 28 miles North East of Gundagai, NSW (2nd crash)
04.09.58: Crashed Myrtleford, Victoria (3rd and final crash)

Myrtleford is a town in northeast Victoria, Australia, 282 km (175 miles) northeast of Melbourne and 47 km (29 miles) southeast of Wangaratta. Myrtleford is part of the Alpine Shire local government area

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://airwaysmuseum.com/Downloads/DCA%20accident%20reports%201956%20to%201968%20v2.pdf
4. https://www.austairdata.com.au/component/rsdirectory/entry/view/10752:vh-aud-1
5. https://edcoatescollection.com/ac1/austa2/VH-AUD.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/Myrtleford

c/no. DHA.984: Taken on charge as A17-549 at 2 Aircraft Depot, RAAF Richmond, NSW 29.6.42. To 1 AOS, RAAF Station Cootamundra, NSW 6.7.42. To 1 Aircraft Depot RAAF Laverton, Victoria 2.8.42. To 7 EFTS RAAF Western Junction, Launceston, Tasmania 7.12.42 (for use of Oficer Commanding, Australian 12th Infantry Brigade); transferred to Care & Maintenance Unit 1.6.45 at RAAF Launceston for long-term storage pending disposal; put up for sale 15.5.46.

Struck off charge when sold 31.5.46 for £150 to Frank D Talent, Berwick, Victoria; issued to him 25.6.46. Registered as VH-AUD (C of R 1039) 22.8.46 to Frank D Talent, Berwick, Victoria. Registation VH-AUD cancelled 30.9.48. Registration restored 17.12.48 to same owner. Re-registered 3.12.49 to Schutt Aircraft Sales & Service, Cheltenham, Victoria. Re-registered 5.10.50 to United Cattle Corp Ltd, Barkly Downs, Queensland. Re-registered 14.3.51 to Schutt Aircraft Sales & Service, Cheltenham, Victoria. Re-registered 2.5.51 to Gertrude J McKenzie, Aspendale, Victoria. Re-regisrtrered 17.8.51 to John P Conley, Broken Hill, NSW. Re-registered 3.10.51 to Arthur R Johnston, Wilcannia, NSW. Re-registered 26.3.54 to Air-Spread Pty Ltd, Melbourne, Victoria. Re-registered 21.9.55 to Schutt Aircraft Sales & Service Pty Ltd, Moorabbin, Melbourne, Victoria.

Badly damaged when hit fence on take-off Culcairn, NSW 1.12.55; repaired and returned to service. Re-registered 22.9.56 to Schutt Airfarmers Pty Ltd, Moorabbin, Melbourne, Victoria. Struck HT wires and crashed Nanangroe Station, 28 miles North-East of Gundagai, NSW 16.5.57. Regn cancelled by 30.6.57. Rebuilt and re-registered 1958 to same owner.

Written off (damaged beyond repair) when Crashed Myrtleford, Alpine Shire, Victoria 4.9.58 while involved in agricultural (crop spraying/top dressing) operations.

Registration VH-AUD cancelled 4.9.58.

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
16-May-2025 13:43	Dr. John Smith	Added
01-Jun-2025 06:53	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Registration, Source, Narrative, ]