List of Qantas fatal accidents

Short S.23 Empire flying boat VH-ABB, which crashed in 1944.

While Qantas has never had a fatal jet airliner accident, the Australian national airline suffered losses in its early days before the widespread adoption of jets in civilian aviation.[1] These were mainly biplanes or flying boats servicing routes in Queensland and New Guinea.[2] The incidents between 1942 and 1944 were during World War II, when Qantas Empire Airways operated on behalf of the military.[3] While strictly speaking not accidents, the shootdowns of G-AETZ and G-AEUH are included for completeness. In 2014 and 2023, Qantas was rated the world's safest airline by Airline Ratings.[4]

Date Location Aircraft type Registration Description Total occupants Fatalities References
24 March 1927 Tambo, Australia Airco (later de Havilland) DH.9C G-AUED Stalled at low altitude on approach to land. Pilot Alan Douglas Davidson 3 3 [5][6]
4 September 1928 Adelaide Hills, Australia de Havilland DH.50J G-AUHI Following a tour carrying Sir John Salmond, aircraft departed Adelaide piloted by C. W. A. Scott with engineer as passenger; lost control in cloud during attempt to cross the Adelaide Hills and aircraft crashed and caught fire killing the engineer. See C. W. A. Scott's DH.50J Hermes, fatal crash. 2 1 [7]
3 October 1934 Near Winton, Australia de Havilland DH.50A VH-UHE Crashed after in-flight loss of control, possibly stalled at low altitude in dusty low-visibility conditions. 3 3 [8]
15 November 1934 Near Longreach, Australia de Havilland DH.86 VH-USG Crashed on its delivery flight from England to Brisbane after in-flight loss of control, probably due to the type's design deficiencies. 4 4 [9][10][11][12][13]
30 January 1942 Timor Sea off Koepang Short S.23 Empire Flying Boat G-AEUH Shot down by Japanese aircraft; ex-Qantas VH-ABD, owned by Imperial Airways and operated by Qantas. 18 13 [3][14][15]
20 February 1942 Brisbane, Australia de Havilland DH.86 VH-USE Lost control after take-off in stormy weather, possibly broke up in flight (tail fin found a mile from the crash site). 9 9 [16][17][18][19]
28 February 1942 Between Tjilatjap, Netherlands East Indies and Broome, Australia Short S.23 Empire Flying Boat G-AETZ Nicknamed "Circe"
Shot down by Japanese aircraft; owned by Imperial Airways and operated by Qantas. 		20 20 [20]
22 April 1943 Gulf of Papua off Port Moresby, Papua Short S.23 Empire Flying Boat VH-ADU Stalled in flare and broke up during emergency landing in open water in poor weather. 31 13 [15][21]
26 November 1943 Port Moresby, Papua Lockheed C-56B Lodestar 42-68348 Struck hill after take-off; USAAF aircraft operated by Qantas for Allied Directorate of Air Transport. 15 15 [22][23]
11 October 1944 Rose Bay, Sydney, Australia Short S.23 Empire Flying Boat VH-ABB On final approach with one engine shut-down, stalled 3 metres (10 ft) above the water and hull ruptured on impact. 30 2 [15][24][25]
23 March 1946 Indian Ocean Avro Lancastrian G-AGLX Aircraft disappeared between Colombo and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, cause unknown; aircraft owned by BOAC and operated by both airlines on Sydney-London services (BOAC crews operated London-Karachi and Qantas crews Karachi-Sydney). 10 10 [26][27]
16 July 1951 Huon Gulf near Lae, Papua New Guinea de Havilland Australia DHA-3 Drover VH-EBQ Crashed in sea after centre propeller failure, in heavy rain half a mile from the coast. Cargo of gold doré bars worth £36,000 (A$1.7 million 2022) was never found. 7 7 [28][29]
21 September 1951 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) southeast of Arona in the central highlands of New Guinea de Havilland DH.84 Dragon VH-AXL Crashed in mountainous country, no passengers aboard 1 1 [30]
13 December 1951 Near Mount Hagen, central highlands of New Guinea de Havilland DH.84 Dragon VH-URV Crashed in mountainous country 3 3 [31]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Qantas fatal accidents.

References

  1. ^ Creedy, Steve (12 February 2008). "Qantas safety record under threat". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 14 February 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2008.
  2. ^ "History: Venturing Overseas". Qantas Airways Limited. Archived from the original on 1 May 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2008.
  3. ^ a b "History: The World at War". Qantas Airways Limited. Archived from the original on 1 May 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2008.
  4. ^ Geoffrey, Thomas (8 January 2014). "AirlineRatings.com names the top ten safest airlines". airlineratings.com. Airline Ratings.
  5. ^ G-AUED Airco aeroplane. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. hdl:10462/deriv/114375.
  6. ^ Kebabjian, Richard. "24 Mar 1927". Planecrashinfo. Retrieved 13 May 2008.
  7. ^ Fysh, Sir Wilmot Hudson (1965). pp. 196--197, p. 285.
  8. ^ Atalanta, a De Havilland DH50 biplane VH-UHE, ca. 1930. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. hdl:10462/deriv/134578.
  9. ^ "QANTAS DH 86 VH - USG at Darwin airport with crew". Northern Territory Library and Information Service. Retrieved 13 May 2008. [dead link]
  10. ^ "Aeroplane". Northern Territory Library and Information Service. Retrieved 13 May 2008. [dead link]
  11. ^ "Airmen". Northern Territory Library and Information Service. Retrieved 13 May 2008. [dead link]
  12. ^ "Aeroplane". Northern Territory Library and Information Service. Retrieved 13 May 2008. [dead link]
  13. ^ Kebabjian, Richard. "15 Nov 1934". Planecrashinfo. Retrieved 13 May 2008.
  14. ^ "Papers of Ray Shepherd, File A20, ACC G-AEUH". Northern Territory Library and Information Service. Retrieved 13 May 2008.
  15. ^ a b c Graham, Wynnum B. (2001). Retrieved on 13 May 2008.
  16. ^ De Havilland 86A owned by Qantas Empire Airways, ca. 1940. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. hdl:10462/deriv/136510.
  17. ^ "Qantas DH86". Northern Territory Library and Information Service. Retrieved 13 May 2008. [dead link]
  18. ^ "Qantas DH86". Northern Territory Library and Information Service. Retrieved 13 May 2008. [dead link]
  19. ^ Kebabjian, Richard. "20 Feb 1942". Planecrashinfo. Retrieved 13 May 2008.
  20. ^ "QANTAS Empire Airways Chronological History". Cloncurry Advocate. 30 May 1947. p. 4. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  21. ^ "AWM Collection Record: P02557.009". Australian War Memorial Collection. Archived from the original on 19 July 2009. Retrieved 13 May 2008.
  22. ^ Cuskelly, Ron (1997–2000). "Lodestar". Retrieved 13 May 2008.
  23. ^ Francillon, Rene J. (1987).
  24. ^ "Aeroplane". Northern Territory Library and Information Service. Retrieved 13 May 2008. [dead link]
  25. ^ Qantas Short C Class Empire flying boat VH-ABB 'Coolangatta', ca. 1940. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. hdl:10462/deriv/119769.
  26. ^ Livingstone, Bob (1998). p. 122.
  27. ^ "Avro 691 Lancastrian 1 G-AGLX Indian Ocean". Aviation Safety Network. Flight Safety Foundation. Retrieved 14 May 2008.
  28. ^ Kebabjian, Richard. "16 Jul 1951". Planecrashinfo. Retrieved 30 June 2010.
  29. ^ Goodall, Geoff. "DE HAVILLAND DHA-3 DROVER". Geoff Goodall's Aviation History Site. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  30. ^ "Pilot killed in Qantas crash". Canberra Times. p. 4. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  31. ^ "Air crash in New Guinea". Cairns Post. 15 December 1951. p. 5. Retrieved 11 February 2018.

Further reading

  • Allen, Eric (1995). Airliners in Australian Service. Vol. 1. Weston Creek, ACT: Aerospace Publications Pty. Ltd. ISBN 1-875671-14-5. OCLC 38384708.
  • Cuskelly, Ron (1997–2000). "The Lockheed File: Lockheed Aircraft in Australia".
  • Francillon, Rene J. (1987). Lockheed Aircraft Since 1913. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-897-2. OCLC 17156375.
  • Fysh, Sir Wilmot Hudson (1965). Qantas Rising: The Autobiography of the Flying Fysh. Sydney, NSW: Angus and Robertson. OCLC 2223794. LoC Cat. No. 65-25523.
  • Graham, Wynnum B. (2001). "Empire C Class Flying Boats" (PDF). Australian Military Aircraft Serials and Aircraft History.
  • Job, Macarthur (1991). Air Crash. Vol. 1. Weston Creek, ACT: Aerospace Publications Pty. Ltd. ISBN 0-9587978-9-7. OCLC 28964777.
  • Job, Macarthur (1992). Air Crash. Vol. 2. Weston Creek, ACT: Aerospace Publications Pty. Ltd. ISBN 1-875671-01-3. OCLC 221135405.
  • Livingstone, Bob (1998). Under the Southern Cross: The B-24 Liberator in the South Pacific. Nashville, TN: Turner Publishing Company. ISBN 1-56311-432-1. OCLC 44838653.
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