The 1938 Kyeema crash occurred on the western face of Mount Dandenong, Victoria, Australia.
On October 25, 1938, eighteen people were killed when the Kyeema, an Australian National Airways DC-2, VH-UYC crashed. The aircraft was in route to Melbourne from Adelaide. The disaster is blamed on a combination of the presence of a heavy fog and the use of an outdated navigational practice which relied solely on landmarks to determine position. During the ensuing investigation, it was decided that the pilot believed he was descending for a landing at Essendon but was grossly off course causing him to crash into the mountain. While not the first fatal accident in Australian aviation history it was unique because it was the first aircraft in radio communication up to the time of impact.
A Memorial Cairn was built near the crash site in 1978.
The Kyeema Walking Track was named after the Memorial, and is a 2 km route high up on the western face of Mt Dandenong, offering magnificent views across greater Melbourne to the west and northwest. It passes the summit of Mt Corhanwarrabul, 628m, through forest, and links with Trig Track at the nothern end, skirting the commercial Sky High Observatory at the Mt Dandenong summit.
The photo album is at
http://worldisround.com/articles/331738/index.html
I undertook this walk on July 1, 2007, on a very bleak, cold, and overcast day.
On October 25, 1938, eighteen people were killed when the Kyeema, an Australian National Airways DC-2, VH-UYC crashed. The aircraft was in route to Melbourne from Adelaide. The disaster is blamed on a combination of the presence of a heavy fog and the use of an outdated navigational practice which relied solely on landmarks to determine position. During the ensuing investigation, it was decided that the pilot believed he was descending for a landing at Essendon but was grossly off course causing him to crash into the mountain. While not the first fatal accident in Australian aviation history it was unique because it was the first aircraft in radio communication up to the time of impact.
A Memorial Cairn was built near the crash site in 1978.
The Kyeema Walking Track was named after the Memorial, and is a 2 km route high up on the western face of Mt Dandenong, offering magnificent views across greater Melbourne to the west and northwest. It passes the summit of Mt Corhanwarrabul, 628m, through forest, and links with Trig Track at the nothern end, skirting the commercial Sky High Observatory at the Mt Dandenong summit.
The photo album is at
http://worldisround.com/articles/331738/index.html
I undertook this walk on July 1, 2007, on a very bleak, cold, and overcast day.
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