install them in airline aircraft operating in Australia to survey the conditions arising on major air routes. The Minister for Civil Aviation, Mr Arthur Drakeford, made a detailed statement to Parliament that an undetected fatigue crack in a welded joint in a boom attachment fitting in the left wing caused the crash. Drakeford also said he was satisfied the work of the Investigation Panel was completed competently and thoroughly. Inquiry Mr Joseph Clark, a member of parliament, had flown in Tokana five days prior to the crash. Two Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) aircraft mechanics who were fellow-passengers had shown him a small crack in the aircraft's elevator hinge bracket. Clark had advised the two to tell the pilot about the crack if they thought it was serious. After the crash, Clark reported this conversation to the Minister for Civil Aviation and made a statement to the press. He repeated his statement in the House of Representatives. There was also criticism from Mr Thomas White that the Investigation Panel's report had not focussed attention on the major alteration involved in the conversion from a three-engined aeroplane to a two-engined aeroplane. Thomas White was a member of parliament and a former RAAF group captain. Following this criticism in the Parliament House of Representatives the Minister for Civil Aviation, Arthur Drakeford, appointed Mr Justice Philp of the Supreme Court of Queensland to conduct an inquiry into the accident using the powers of the National Security Act. The Air Court of Inquiry first sat on 27 March 1945 in Melbourne, chaired by Mr Justice Philp. The terms of reference for the Inquiry were to inquire into the causes of the accident; to investigate Mr Clark's allegations about a crack in the elevator hinge bracket; and to investigate Mr White's concerns that the Investigation Panel had neglected to consider the significant alteration made by removing three engines and replacing them with two engines. The Inquiry heard evidence that the annual inspection of VH-UYY had been completed on 2 November 1944 and since then it had flown for 525 hours. At an inspection of this kind it was possible to examine most of the welded joints in the wing, but not the welded spar joint that ultimately failed. That joint had not been inspected since installation of Pratt & Whitney engines in 1943. The Inquiry also heard that the maximum weights of all civil aircraft