Sydney – Taree – Kempsey – Armidale – Glen Innes – Tamworth

On September 14, 1954 at 02:45 PM, Sydney – Taree – Kempsey – Armidale – Glen Innes – Tamworth experienced a crash involving Lockheed L-414 Hudson, operated by John Fairfax %26 Sons, with the event recorded near Chichester Dam New South Wales.

The flight was categorized as cargo and the reported phase was flight at a mountains crash site.

3 people were known to be on board, 3 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 100.0%.

Crew on board: 2, crew fatalities: 2, passengers on board: 1, passenger fatalities: 1, other fatalities: 0.

The aircraft left Sydney-Mascot at 1400LT on a newspaper delivery flight to Tamworth with intermediate stops in Taree, Kempsey, Armidale and Glen Innes. At 1437LT, the crew informed ground about his position and confirmed his ETA in Taree at 1501LT. About eight minutes later, the airplane hit trees and crashed in a dense wooded area located about 10 km north of the Chichester Dam. As the airplane failed to arrive, SAR operations were conducted but eventually suspended two weeks later as no trace of the aircraft nor the crew was found. Fifteen months later, on December 22, 1955, the pilot of a Butler Air Transport DH.114 Heron spotted the wreckage that was found about 20 feet below the summit. All three occupants have been killed. Crew: Cpt Douglas Hereward Swain, pilot, F/O Alistair Sydney Cole-Milne, copilot. Passenger: Cpt D. Burns.

Aircraft reference details include registration VH-SML, MSN 414-6049, year of manufacture 1941.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately -32.2373°, 151.6898°.