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On 31 January 1945 a Stinson Model A aircraft departed from Melbourne for a flight of to Kerang, Victoria—the first leg of an Australian National Airways regular scheduled service to Broken Hill, New South Wales. It crashed from Melbourne. All ten occupants were killed in the accident. The aircraft was one of four Stinsons imported in 1936 by Airlines of Australia (AoA). Three had now crashed with the loss of 17 lives, and the fourth would not be permitted to fly again. It was determined that the accident was caused by a fatigue crack in the main spar of the left wing that caused the outer part of the left wing, outboard of the engine nacelle, to separate from the remainder of the aircraft. The expert panel investigating the accident believed this to be the first fatal aircraft accident anywhere in the world directly attributable to metal fatigue. The accident and related matters were investigated by a Supreme Court judge who also found that the aircraft's left wing failed in flight due to a fatigue crack. The judge made five recommendations including one that a safe flying life should be fixed for each metal aircraft registered in Australia to avoid further failures due to metal fatigue. ==The flight== The aircraft was a modified Stinson Model A registered VH-UYY and operated by Australian National Airways (ANA) as the ''Tokana''. On 31 January 1945 the ''Tokana'' departed from Melbourne's Essendon Airport at 7:55 am local time for a flight to Broken Hill, stopping at Kerang and Mildura. On board were two pilots and eight passengers. A strong and gusting wind was blowing from the south-west and the sky was mostly overcast with the base of the clouds about above sea level. About 20 minutes after takeoff the aircraft was approaching Redesdale and several people observed it flying about above ground level, just below the cloud base.〔 Several witnesses reported hearing a sharp crack followed by cessation of noise from the engines. When they looked up they saw the Stinson spiralling downwards. Part of one wing had separated from the remainder of the aircraft and it was drifting slowly towards the ground. As they watched, they saw the whole tail assembly break free from the fuselage. Moments later the wreckage struck the ground and a pall of black smoke rose into the air.〔〔("A.N.A. Plane Exploded In Mid Air" ) ''The Canberra Times'' – 1 February 1945, p.2 (National Library of Australia) Retrieved 25 May 2012〕 Part of the left wing, outboard of the engine nacelle, continued to drift down slowly and reached the ground about ¾ mile (1.2 km) from the main wreckage. The crash occurred 21 minutes after taking off from Essendon Airport.〔("Welded Joint In Plane" ) ''The Canberra Times'' – 28 March 1945, p.5 (National Library of Australia) Retrieved 25 May 2012〕 The flight covered a distance of only and ended in farming country about east of Redesdale.〔 The site of the crash was once part of "Spring Plains" Station which had been owned by John Robertson Duigan and was where he constructed and flew the first aeroplane in Australia.〔("Airliner Crashes After Explosion" ) ''The Argus'' – 1 February 1945, p.3 (National Library of Australia) Retrieved 25 May 2012〕 The main wreckage consisting of the fuselage, right inner wing, and left inner wing still with its engine attached, struck the ground inverted and was immediately consumed by fire. The bodies of the eight passengers were found in what remained of the cabin but were burned beyond recognition. The violent gyration of the fuselage threw the two pilots through the roof of the cockpit. Their bodies were found unburned from the main wreckage. The tail of the aircraft broke away from the fuselage and fell to the ground about from the main wreckage.〔 The outer section of the left wing, outboard of the engine nacelle, was found about ¾ mile (1.2 km) from the main wreckage. Apart from the fracture surfaces on the inboard ends of the spars it was almost undamaged. The right wing was torn into three sections by the violence of the gyrations and struck the ground from the main wreckage. The right engine was torn away from the right wing and struck the ground about from the main wreckage. It was slightly damaged by the fire.〔 The main wreckage trail was about long.〔("Fatal Passenger Plane Crash" ) ''The Argus'' – 1 February 1945, p.7 (National Library of Australia) Retrieved 25 May 2012〕 In the gyrations of the aircraft after separation of the outer part of the left wing, other parts broke free and separated from the main wreckage. Many small pieces of wreckage were found scattered over a wide area.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「1945 Australian National Airways Stinson crash」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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