Trans Australia Airlines Flight 538

The TAA Fokker Friendship disaster, the largest loss of life in a single Australian airline accident, with 29 deaths, occured on 10 June 1960 at Mackay, Queensland, Australia. A two-engined passenger plane, a Fokker Friendship belonging to Trans Australia Airlines (TAA), registration VH-TFB, was operating TAA Flight 538 from Brisbane. Arriving over Mackay at night, in foggy conditions, while on final approach to land it flew into the ocean south-east of Mackay. It was TAA's first fatal accident in the 14 years since the airline was founded.

The aircraft

The aircraft that crashed was TAA's first Fokker Friendship F-27 aircraft. In fact, TAA was the first airline outside of Europe to order the type. TAA's director of engineering, John L. Watkins OBE, accepted the aircraft at the Fokker works near Schipol Airport, Amsterdam, on 6 April 1959. The aircraft was christened Abel Tasman after the Dutch explorer who was the first European to reach New Zealand, Tasmania, and parts of Australia in 1642-1644. The aircraft was given registry number VH-TFB. The acceptance ceremony was attended by the Australian ambassador and his wife, Sir Edwin and Lady McCarthy.

By June 1960, TAA had 12 Fokker Friendships in service, and in the 14 years since the airline's creation in 1946, it had never had a fatal accident.

The accident

On the late afternoon and evening of Friday, 10 June 1960, VH-TFB was flying TAA Flight 538 from Brisbane to Mackay, with stops at Maryborough and Rockhampton. It left Brisbane on time at 5pm under the command of Captain F. C. Pollard with G. L. Davis as First Officer.

The flight to Maryborough and on to Rockhampton was normal. The plane arrived at Rockhampton at 7.12pm, where the crew received the weather forecast for Mackay, predicting shallow fog patches. VH-TFB was refuelled to 700 gallons, giving sufficient endurance to continue on to Townsville if fog made it impossible to land in Mackay.

Adding to the nine passengers already aboard, seven adults and nine schoolboys joined the flight at Rockhampton. All the schoolboys were boarders at Rockhampton Grammar School, returning home to Mackay for the Queen's Birthday long weekend. One of these, nine-year-old Max Barclay from Carrington Station near Nebo, was celebrating his ninth birthday, and instead of his parents driving down to pick him up, he was allowed to fly home instead as a special birthday treat.

VH-TFB departed from Rockhampton at 7.52pm and ascended to 13,000 feet. At 8.17pm, Mackay air traffic controller E. W. Miskell reported that fog had rolled in and temporarily closed Mackay airport. A few minutes later, having come to the spot where he would start descending, Captain Pollard told the tower controller he would hold over Mackay at 13,000 feet in case visibility improved. At 8.40pm they reported they were over the airport. They continued to circle.

By 10pm, the fog was thinning. Air traffic controller Miskell reported this to VH-TFB, and Captain Pollard said they would begin an approach to the airport. Miskell reported the airport conditions. Pollard acknowledged the transmission.

Miskell then telephoned the airport fire service for the latest ground temperature. It was 13 degrees celsius. Miskell immediately reported this to VH-TFB.

This time, there was no acknowledgement.

Miskell transmitted again, noting the time was 10.05pm, and again there was no reply. At 10.10pm, Miskell started the procedure for starting search and rescue.

The immediate aftermath

Five hours after the accident, at about 3am, a searchlight-equipped motor launch had found items of wreckage (damaged passenger seats, clothing, cabin furnishings) floating on the ocean between Round Top Island and Flat Top Island, five nautical miles due east of Mackay Airport.

A navy survey ship, HMAS Warrego, was sent to search for the sunken wreckage, and arrived on Sunday 12 June 1960. At 4.20pm on that afternoon, HMAS Warrego discovered the major sections of VH-TFB in 40 feet of water, a further four nautical miles south-west of Round Top Island (or about three nautical miles south-east of Mackay Airport). Salvaging the wreck took another two weeks.

The cause of the accident

A Board of Accident Inquiry was appointed on 29 July 1960, and after allowing the investigators to sift the wreckage, finally opened on 4 October 1960. It sat for four days in Brisbane and two more in Mackay, before concluding on 10 November 1960.

The inquiry did not conclude on any particular cause. The aircraft had flown into the ocean for no apparent reason, so they focussed on the altimeters.

One possibility was that the pitot static system (which measures air pressure to find altitude) may have been contaminated with water, which froze during the flight.

Another possibility was that the 3-pointer altimeter was merely misinterpreted. That is, at 3,900 feet the 100-feet pointer indicates 9 on the dial, but the shorter 1000-feet pointer appears to indicate 4. It must, however, be read as 3. Such a mistake is surprisingly common, which is why 3-pointer altimeters were later dropped. If this were the case, the crew would have simply flown into the ocean while thinking they were another thousand feet higher. However, many commentators thought this unlikely given the long experience of Captain Pollard.

Yet another possibility revolves around an interesting piece of wreckage. TAA's director of engineering, John L. Watkins OBE, was intrigued by a mysterious brown glass medicine bottle discovered in the wreckage of the cockpit. Wondering how the bottle could have found its way into the cockpit, he developed a hypothesis which, though it can never be proved, is still quite interesting. Remember the nine schoolboys who joined the flight in Rockhampton? Back in 1960 flying was still a thrill for boys of about 10 years of age, and it was customary to allow young passengers to come up to the cockpit to have a look. With all the circling while waiting for the fog to clear, it's possible that one of the schoolboys, very interested in flying, was still in the cockpit at 10pm when air traffic controller Miskell reported that the fog was lifting. Being a flying enthusiast, it is plausible that he might have a bottle of model aircraft fuel in a brown medicine bottle (a long shot, but that was Watkins' theory). The pilots, having enjoyed passing the time with a keen young enthusiast, would have wanted to land quickly, so there may have been a bit of hurring to get the young lad back to his seat. In the hurry, he may have dropped his bottle, and spilled the cockpit with pungent fumes that reek of a fire risk. Could this mishap have distracted the crew enough for them to misread the 3-pointer altimeter, and fly the plane into the sea? We will never know.