Date:	Thursday 22 February 1940
Time:	08:50 LT
Type:	de Havilland DH-82A Tiger Moth
Owner/operator:	2 EFTS, RAAF
Registration:	A17-21
MSN:	3689
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Red Banks, 5 miles SSE of Mallala, SA -   Australia
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAAF Parafield, Adelaide, SA (YPPF)
Destination airport:	RAAF Parafield, Adelaide, SA (YPPF)

Narrative:
c/no.3689 (Gipsy Major #80454). UK built by DeHavilland at Hatfield, Hertfordshire. C of A 6298 issued to De Havilland Australia at Bankstown, Sydney, NSW 3.6.38. Australian registered as VH-AAI (C of R 710) 8.8.38 to Spencers Gulf Aero Club, Whyalla, SA. Impressed into military service and delivered to RAAF as A17-21 on 4.1.40 at 2 EFTS Parafield, Adelaide, SA.

Written off (damaged beyond repair) when crashed due to engine failure and destroyed by fire at Red Banks, near Mallala, SA 22.2.40. The pilot - Cadet M.N. Finister on a solo handling training flight - was injured including concussion, abrasions and shock. The aircraft crashed during a forced landing following an engine failure and caught on fire. The aircraft was completely burnt out.

Despite wartime censorship restrictions, the incident was wideley reported in the local press at the time (Daily Mercury (Mackay, Qld.) Friday 23 February 1940 Page 6):

PLANE CRASHES AND CATCHES FIRE:
Pilot's Narrow Escape
BRISBANE, Thursday.
Air Force Cadet Pilot M. M. Finster (22), single, of Melbourne, escaped a terrible death by a few seconds when his plane nose-dived and caught fire at Belmont to-day. As the plane dived from 100 feet, Finster raised himself in the cockpit with the intention of parachuting, and this action saved his life as, when the plane hit the ground, theengine was forced into the cockpit.

Finster was badly bruised and shocked, but managed to crawl from the plane a few seconds before the petrol tank exploded. Within a minute or two the plane was merely a charred frame.

Finster was using a Tiger Moth for forced landing practice, and was over Belmont when he went into a landing manoeuvre. As he opened the throttle at practice height, the engine cut out. A minute later the machine went into a spiral dive and crashed.

Employees of Belmont wool scour swam a 30-feet creek, dashed to Finster's assistance and found him groping his way clear. When the first helper reached him, Finster collapsed in his arms, and the machine burst into flames. His condition is satisfactory".

Wreckage recovered to RAAF Parafield for damage assessment. Declared a non-effective airframe and struck off charge 23.2.40

Red Banks is a town and locality in South Australia's lower Mid North. Red Banks is located on the Gawler to Mallala road (Red Banks Road), east of the bridge over the Light River, approximately 5 miles south-south-east of Mallala, SA.

1. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/production-lists/DH82.pdf
2. Daily Mercury (Mackay, Qld.) Friday 23 February 1940 Page 6: PLANE CRASHES AND CATCHES FIRE:
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/169642995
3. The Newcastle Sun (Newcastle, NSW) Thursday 22 February 1940 Page 9: CLOSE ESCAPE FROM DEATH: PLANE CRASH: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/167514181
4. Cloncurry Advocate (Cloncurrey, Qld.) Friday 23 Feb 1940 Page 5: A MIRACULOUS ESCAPE: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/170050744
5. The Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney, NSW) Friday 23 February 1940 Page 10: CADET PILOT'S ESCAPE: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/17646687
6. The Chronicle (Adelaide, SA) Thursday 29 February 1940 Page 44: LUCKY ESCAPE FOR R.A.A.F. CADET: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/92383536
7. Daily Advertiser (Wagga Wagga, NSW) Friday 23 February 1940 Page 6: PLANE CRASHES: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/144257261
8. The Cairns Post (Cairns, Qld.) Friday 23 February 1940 Page 7: AIR CADET CRASHES: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/42226429
9. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_VH-A.html
10. https://www.afleetingpeace.org/index.php/page-australian-register/vh-a?highlight=WyJ2aC1hYWkiXQ==
11. https://www.austairdata.com.au/component/rsdirectory/entry/view/8873:vh-aai-1
12. http://www.adf-serials.com.au/2a17a.htm
13. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/p036.html
14. https://www.ozatwar.com/ozcrashes/qld295.htm
15. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._2_Elementary_Flying_Training_School_RAAF#History
16. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAAF_Station_Archerfield#1939%E2%80%931945
17. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mallala,_South_Australia
18. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redbanks,_South_Australia

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
01-Jun-2025 21:52	Dr. John Smith	Added
01-Jun-2025 21:54	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative, ]
02-Jun-2025 20:39	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, ]