Southern Cloud

Infobox Airliner accident


caption=The Southern Cloud photographed from another aircraft
name=Australian National Airways "Southern Cloud"
Date=March 21, 1931
Type=Severe weather
Site= Snowy Mountains, New South Wales, Australia
Fatalities=8
Injuries=0
Aircraft Type=Avro 618 Ten(licensed built Fokker F-VII)
Operator=Australian National Airways
Tail Number=VH-UMF
Passengers=6
Crew=2

The "Southern Cloud", registered VH-UMF, was one of 5 three-engine Avro 618 Ten aircraft flying daily airline services between several Australian cities for Australian National Airways in the early 1930s.cite web | title = Southern Cloud clock | work = National Museum of Australia | publisher = | url = http://www.nma.gov.au/collections/southern_cloud_clock/ | accessdate = 2008-09-13 ] It departed Sydney for Melbourne on 21 March, 1931, at 8.10 am carrying 6 passengers and a crew of 2, but failed to reach its destination. Weather conditions en route were hazardous and worse than predicted. Eighteen days of searching involving over 20 aircraft failed to find any trace of the missing plane. It was Australia's first major airline disaster. The airline folded later that year as a result of this and another loss.

The "Southern Cloud's" fate remained a mystery until the wreck was located accidentally by Mr Tom Sonter, a worker on the Snowy Mountains project, on 26 October 1958, 27 years after its disappearance. The crash site was in heavily timbered mountainous terrain within the Snowy Mountains about 25 km east of the direct Sydney - Melbourne route. Investigations concluded that the severe weather conditions at the time of the flight most likely contributed to the crash.

References and notes

* [http://www.casa.gov.au/fsa/2006/aug/40-42.pdf Into the abyss & back: Flight Safety Australia July-August 2006]