List of Qantas fatal accidents

While Qantas has never had a fatal jet airliner accident, the Australian national airline suffered losses in its early days before the widespread adoption of jets in civilian aviation.[1] These were mainly biplanes or flying boats servicing routes in Queensland and New Guinea.[2] The incidents between 1942 and 1944 were during World War II, when Qantas Empire Airways operated on behalf of the military.[3] While strictly speaking not accidents, the shootdowns of G-AETZ and G-AEUH are included for completeness. In 2014 and 2023, Qantas was rated the world's safest airline by Airline Ratings.[4]

Date Location Aircraft type Registration Description Total occupants Fatalities References
24 March 1927 Tambo, Australia Airco (later de Havilland) DH.9C G-AUED Stalled at low altitude on approach to land. Pilot Alan Douglas Davidson 3 3 [5][6]
4 September 1928 Adelaide Hills, Australia de Havilland DH.50J G-AUHI Following a tour carrying Sir John Salmond, aircraft departed Adelaide piloted by C. W. A. Scott with engineer as passenger; lost control in cloud during attempt to cross the Adelaide Hills and aircraft crashed and caught fire killing the engineer. See C. W. A. Scott's DH.50J Hermes, fatal crash. 2 1 [7]
3 October 1934 Near Winton, Australia de Havilland DH.50A VH-UHE Crashed after in-flight loss of control, possibly stalled at low altitude in dusty low-visibility conditions. 3 3 [8]
15 November 1934 Near Longreach, Australia de Havilland DH.86 VH-USG Crashed on its delivery flight from England to Brisbane after in-flight loss of control, probably due to the type's design deficiencies. 4 4 [9][10][11][12][13]
30 January 1942 Timor Sea off Koepang Short S.23 Empire Flying Boat G-AEUH Shot down by Japanese aircraft; ex-Qantas VH-ABD, owned by Imperial Airways and operated by Qantas. 18 13 [3][14][15]
20 February 1942 Brisbane, Australia de Havilland DH.86 VH-USE Lost control after take-off in stormy weather, possibly broke up in flight (tail fin found a mile from the crash site). 9 9 [16][17][18][19]
28 February 1942 Between Tjilatjap, Netherlands East Indies and Broome, Australia Short S.23 Empire Flying Boat G-AETZ Nicknamed "Circe"
Shot down by Japanese aircraft; owned by Imperial Airways and operated by Qantas.		 20 20 [20]
22 April 1943 Gulf of Papua off Port Moresby, Papua Short S.23 Empire Flying Boat VH-ADU Stalled in flare and broke up during emergency landing in open water in poor weather. 31 13 [15][21]
26 November 1943 Port Moresby, Papua Lockheed C-56B Lodestar 42-68348 Struck hill after take-off; USAAF aircraft operated by Qantas for Allied Directorate of Air Transport. 15 15 [22][23]
11 October 1944 Rose Bay, Sydney, Australia Short S.23 Empire Flying Boat VH-ABB On final approach with one engine shut-down, stalled 3 metres (10 ft) above the water and hull ruptured on impact. 30 2 [15][24][25]
23 March 1946 Indian Ocean Avro Lancastrian G-AGLX Aircraft disappeared between Colombo and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, cause unknown; aircraft owned by BOAC and operated by both airlines on Sydney-London services (BOAC crews operated London-Karachi and Qantas crews Karachi-Sydney). 10 10 [26][27]
16 July 1951 Huon Gulf near Lae, Papua New Guinea de Havilland Australia DHA-3 Drover VH-EBQ Crashed in sea after centre propeller failure, in heavy rain half a mile from the coast. Cargo of gold doré bars worth £36,000 (A$1.7 million 2022) was never found. 7 7 [28][29]
21 September 1951 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) southeast of Arona in the central highlands of New Guinea de Havilland DH.84 Dragon VH-AXL Crashed in mountainous country, no passengers aboard 1 1 [30]
13 December 1951 Near Mount Hagen, central highlands of New Guinea de Havilland DH.84 Dragon VH-URV Crashed in mountainous country 3 3 [31]

Short S.23 Empire flying boat VH-ABB, which crashed in 1944.

See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Qantas fatal accidents.

References
  1. Creedy, Steve (12 February 2008). "Qantas safety record under threat". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 14 February 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2008.
  2. "History: Venturing Overseas". Qantas Airways Limited. Archived from the original on 1 May 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2008.
  3. "History: The World at War". Qantas Airways Limited. Archived from the original on 1 May 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2008.
  4. Geoffrey, Thomas (8 January 2014). "AirlineRatings.com names the top ten safest airlines". airlineratings.com. Airline Ratings.
  5. G-AUED Airco aeroplane. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. hdl:10462/deriv/114375.
  6. Kebabjian, Richard. "24 Mar 1927". Planecrashinfo. Retrieved 13 May 2008.
  7. Fysh, Sir Wilmot Hudson (1965). pp. 196--197, p. 285.
  8. Atalanta, a De Havilland DH50 biplane VH-UHE, ca. 1930. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. hdl:10462/deriv/134578.
  9. "QANTAS DH 86 VH - USG at Darwin airport with crew". Northern Territory Library and Information Service. Retrieved 13 May 2008.
  10. "Aeroplane". Northern Territory Library and Information Service. Retrieved 13 May 2008.
  11. "Airmen". Northern Territory Library and Information Service. Retrieved 13 May 2008.
  12. "Aeroplane". Northern Territory Library and Information Service. Retrieved 13 May 2008.
  13. Kebabjian, Richard. "15 Nov 1934". Planecrashinfo. Retrieved 13 May 2008.
  14. "Papers of Ray Shepherd, File A20, ACC G-AEUH". Northern Territory Library and Information Service. Retrieved 13 May 2008.
  15. Graham, Wynnum B. (2001). Retrieved on 13 May 2008.
  16. De Havilland 86A owned by Qantas Empire Airways, ca. 1940. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. hdl:10462/deriv/136510.
  17. "Qantas DH86". Northern Territory Library and Information Service. Retrieved 13 May 2008.
  18. "Qantas DH86". Northern Territory Library and Information Service. Retrieved 13 May 2008.
  19. Kebabjian, Richard. "20 Feb 1942". Planecrashinfo. Retrieved 13 May 2008.
  20. "QANTAS Empire Airways Chronological History". Cloncurry Advocate. 30 May 1947. p. 4. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  21. "AWM Collection Record: P02557.009". Australian War Memorial Collection. Archived from the original on 19 July 2009. Retrieved 13 May 2008.
  22. Cuskelly, Ron (1997–2000). "Lodestar". Retrieved 13 May 2008.
  23. Francillon, Rene J. (1987).
  24. "Aeroplane". Northern Territory Library and Information Service. Retrieved 13 May 2008.
  25. Qantas Short C Class Empire flying boat VH-ABB 'Coolangatta', ca. 1940. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. hdl:10462/deriv/119769.
  26. Livingstone, Bob (1998). p. 122.
  27. "Avro 691 Lancastrian 1 G-AGLX Indian Ocean". Aviation Safety Network. Flight Safety Foundation. Retrieved 14 May 2008.
  28. Kebabjian, Richard. "16 Jul 1951". Planecrashinfo. Retrieved 30 June 2010.
  29. Goodall, Geoff. "DE HAVILLAND DHA-3 DROVER". Geoff Goodall's Aviation History Site. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  30. "Pilot killed in Qantas crash". Canberra Times. p. 4. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  31. "Air crash in New Guinea". Cairns Post. 15 December 1951. p. 5. Retrieved 11 February 2018.

Further reading
  • Allen, Eric (1995). Airliners in Australian Service. Vol. 1. Weston Creek, ACT: Aerospace Publications Pty. Ltd. ISBN 1-875671-14-5. OCLC 38384708.
  • Cuskelly, Ron (1997–2000). "The Lockheed File: Lockheed Aircraft in Australia".
  • Francillon, Rene J. (1987). Lockheed Aircraft Since 1913. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-897-2. OCLC 17156375.
  • Fysh, Sir Wilmot Hudson (1965). Qantas Rising: The Autobiography of the Flying Fysh. Sydney, NSW: Angus and Robertson. OCLC 2223794. LoC Cat. No. 65-25523.
  • Graham, Wynnum B. (2001). "Empire C Class Flying Boats" (PDF). Australian Military Aircraft Serials and Aircraft History.
  • Job, Macarthur (1991). Air Crash. Vol. 1. Weston Creek, ACT: Aerospace Publications Pty. Ltd. ISBN 0-9587978-9-7. OCLC 28964777.
  • Job, Macarthur (1992). Air Crash. Vol. 2. Weston Creek, ACT: Aerospace Publications Pty. Ltd. ISBN 1-875671-01-3. OCLC 221135405.
  • Livingstone, Bob (1998). Under the Southern Cross: The B-24 Liberator in the South Pacific. Nashville, TN: Turner Publishing Company. ISBN 1-56311-432-1. OCLC 44838653.
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