Thursday, August 13, 2009

Disaster in the Dandenongs: the Kyeema airliner tragedy

Macarthur Job has written an account of the the last flight of the Kyeema on its journey from Adelaide to Melbourne on 25 October, 1938. It was a foggy day and instead of landing safely at Essendon Airport the aircraft went off course, crashing into Mt Dandenong. UHF radio range beacons had been installed, but not finally tested, in many parts of Australia prior to the accident. These were quickly brought into service to avoid future incidents. The enquiry that followed the disaster resulted in the development of modern air traffic control and the founding of the Department of Civil Aviation. A readable account of this tragedy in Australian aviation history.