Australian National Airways incident at Sydney Airport in 1946
| Australian National Airways incident at Sydney Airport in 1946 | |
|---|---|
 A Douglas DC-3 operated by Ansett Airways |
|
| Accident summary | |
| Accident type | Explosion during renovation work |
| place |
Sydney Mascot Airport , Australia
|
| date | September 7, 1946 |
| Fatalities | 1 |
| Survivors | 5 |
| Injured | 1 |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type |
 Douglas C-47-DL (DC-3)
|
| operator |
Australian National Airways
|
| Mark |
VH NOTE
|
| Departure airport | - |
| Destination airport | - |
| Passengers | 0 |
| crew | 0 |
| Lists of aviation accidents | |
An Australian National Airways incident occurred on September 7, 1946 at Sydney Mascot Airport in Australia . On this day mechanics carried out modifications on a Douglas C-47-DL (DC-3) , which was converted from a former military to a civilian machine. There was an explosion in which one worker was killed, another seriously injured and the machine destroyed.
plane
The aircraft was a Douglas C-47-DL (DC-3) , built in February 1943 at the Douglas Aircraft Company's facility in Long Beach , California , and sold to the United States Army on February 13, 1943 with the military model serial number 42-32845 Air Forces (USAAF) was extradited. On May 1, 1943, the machine was on in India stationed unit Tenth Air Force handed over to the USAAF. In 1945 it was transferred to the India-China Division, Air Transport Command of USAAF. On April 1, 1946, a few months after the Second World War ended, the C-47 was categorized as a surplus from the USAAF and demolished. In May 1946 the machine was sold to the Australian National Airways . The C-47 had the serial number 9071 and was registered on May 22, 1946 with the new aircraft registration VH-ANM and was delivered to the new owner six days later. The aircraft type C-47 was a military variant of the Douglas DC-3 . The C-47 was powered by two Pratt & Whitney R-1830-92 Twin Wasp double radial engines , each with an output of 1,200 hp.
Modification of the machine
On September 7, 1946, the machine was in a hangar at Sydney Airport . The C-47, which in the military version was only sparsely equipped with comfort equipment, was to be upgraded to the comfort level of a Douglas DC-3 passenger version . This included the installation of was insulating materials from Kapok provided for heat and sound insulation in the poorly dressed cabin.
the accident
At the time of the accident, six people were in the fuselage of the C-47. In the front and middle part of the fuselage, four metal workers worked on the body structure of the machine. In the back was the craftsman S. Richardson, who provided the machine with soundproof kapok insulation mats, next to him was his colleague George K. Doig, who was entrusted with cleaning the hull of the machine.
Suddenly the kapok fabric exploded and the machine caught fire. Richardson tried to pull his colleague Doig out of the machine, but his foot was jammed in the cabin floor. Richardson jumped out of the machine with scorched hair and burning clothes. Colleagues tore the burning clothes off his body immediately. Two of the metal workers jumped out of the machine via the side exits, the other two were literally thrown out of the entrance door to the cockpit by the pressure wave of the explosion.
consequences
The worker George K. Doig could only be rescued dead from the burnt-out machine, his colleague S. Richardson suffered severe burns. The four metal workers were unharmed.
The machine had to be written off because of the severe fire damage. Australian National Airways estimated the material damage to 25,000 pounds .
Parts of the machine were later reused to rebuild another C-47 that had been involved in an accident with the aircraft registration number VH-INJ .
swell
- Incident report C-47, VH-ANM in the Aviation Safety Network
- Operating history C-47, VH-ANM on aerialvisuals.ca
- Description of the incident on aussieairliners.org