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. 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. 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. 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. The aircraft The Stinson Model A was a tri-motor with three Lycoming R-680 radial engines, each of . It was approved to fly at a maximum weight of . Four Stinson Model A aircraft were imported to Australia in 1936 and operated by Airlines of Australia. After the outbreak of war in the Pacific in December 1941, Airlines of Australia had found it impossible to obtain spare parts for the Lycoming R-680 engines in its two remaining Stinsons (a Stinson had crashed in February 1937 and another in March 1937). In early