Still Not Found After 43 Years - Aussie Crash 1981 (MSFS)

[FrankPilot]

How can a Cessna 210 that crashed in New South Wales, Australia, in 1983, supposedly killing all 5 on board, be still not found after all this time despite a major initial search & smaller on-going searches every year - in Australia of all places! It's the only crashed aircraft ever in Australia to not be found. Come see the story. Hope you find it interesting. Cheers.

 

 

 

[turboplanner]

Have read a few thousand words on this.

Night VFR flight, another aircraft went through before him, had uneventful flight.

He deviated towards the Barrington Tops, wanted to save time.

Picked up a lot of ice, aircraft not responding as well as it should, lost VFR a few radio transmissions and that was the end of that.

Not found in the official searches. Many people contributed their knowledge from the known radio times and positions narrowing down the search area.

Teams experienced in the area went up there in their holidays but no one has been successful.

The terrain and thick bush mean that you would have to be very close to the wreck to sight it.

[facthunter]

It's tiger country alright.   The last place to be  in that vicinity in those conditions. . When icing conditions exist you MUST get below freezing level quickly.  Nev

[facthunter]

So called NIGHT VMC is a crock also.   Nev

[onetrack]

The vegetation in that Tiger country is so dense, and the country is so full of ravines and gullies, you could be standing on top of the wreckage, and still not see it. It will take many more years and possibly new search equipment that can find metals buried deep in the vegetation, before its found. The footprint of an aircraft that has speared into thick vegetation can be quite small.

 

My BIL is a retired senior police officer and he was sent out to check a country highway for a reported crashed vehicle. He and a colleague spent considerable time searching the roadsides in a police vehicle, and the adjoining bush, for the reported crashed vehicle, but found nothing.

Then, several days later, other searchers found the vehicle with the deceased driver still in it. The marks left by the vehicle as it left the road were barely visible, and the vehicle speared into thick scrub, and was essentially hidden from view, except for anyone within a few metres of the crash site, and on foot.

 

BIL was reprimanded over his failure to find the vehicle, but I don't think he should have been, he really should have been given a bigger search team, more equipment (including aerial search equipment), and more time. 

It's not the first time crashed cars haven't been found for days - so imagine the effort required to find an aircraft speared into a gully or ravine in Tiger country, where you can get lost, just stepping off tracks.

[spacesailor]

Similar to the other crash , that had a better outcome  .

 "  the riddle of the stinson " .

Made into a film .

spacesailor

[FrankPilot]

Note: hours shown for the radio comms transcript in the video above should commence with 19 not 09.

[facthunter]

Maybe they are using UTC.  Nev

[FrankPilot]

Thanks, but no, my typo. Cheers.

[johnm]

with all respect for what happened those years ago - radio calls of that flight

 

 

[onetrack]

There's an entire group called Barrington Research Group, comprising many highly qualified people and friends and family of the deceased, who continue to garner information about the possible location of VH-MDX.

 

They warn searchers that if they find the wreckage, it is not to be touched, and only reported to authorities. It's also reported that there's a very substantial amount of cash in the wreckage, as the bookmaker on board was travelling with his funds for the trip. I couldn't imagine that the notes would be of any value now, though, as natural decay over more than 40 years would have rendered them so badly damaged, as to be virtually unusable.

 

The bottom line is the wreckage is the final resting place of multiple bodies that need specialists to examine, ID, and recover.

 

VH-MDX | Search for Missing Cessna 210 over Barrington Tops

VHMDX.COM.AU

 

[FlyBoy1960]

What's the chance if there was recoverable cash on board that the wreckage was possibly found, the cash taken by actors and they keep quiet for 40 years. This is the first time I heard there was cash on board and it would have predated plastic money

Edited December 5 by FlyBoy1960

[onetrack]

I would think it was unlikely. People who come into illegal cash in large amounts almost always brag about it to someone, or more importantly, splash it around. This brings attention to themselves.

They would have to be peculiarly special people to be able to find the wreckage, extract the cash, spend it in only small amounts, and tell no-one, not even partners or close associates.

In addition, the notes would show signs of damage, and trying to replace or pay with damaged notes on a regular basis, would also bring attention to them.

I understand the amount involved is well over $600,000, so a big enough find to go to the head of many people, and make them indulge in large purchases.

[turboplanner]

2 hours ago, FlyBoy1960 said:

What's the chance if there was recoverable cash on board that the wreckage was possibly found, the cash taken by actors and they keep quiet for 40 years. This is the first time I heard there was cash on board and it would have predated plastic money

If you want to do a little searching, you'll find the reports from several well organised and financed parties, where they went and what they found (but not MDX).

Edited December 5 by turboplanner

[Thruster88]

8 hours ago, onetrack said:

There's an entire group called Barrington Research Group, comprising many highly qualified people and friends and family of the deceased, who continue to garner information about the possible location of VH-MDX.

 

                                                                                                                                                           It's also reported that there's a very substantial amount of cash in the wreckage, as the bookmaker on board was travelling with his funds for the trip.

 

VH-MDX | Search for Missing Cessna 210 over Barrington Tops

VHMDX.COM.AU

 

I have not read about this cash before, got a link? 

 

Cash would have been handy to get a motel in Coolangattar and fly home in daylight. 

[onetrack]

Thruster, I don't have a link to any concrete information about money on board VH-MDX, I only read it somewhere, many years ago, and I cannot guarantee the article was accurate.

The more I dig into the official crash records, the more it seems the article I read was incorrect, or I've simply confused VH-MDX with another aircraft crash, which aircraft also hasn't been found.

The NAA contains a huge amount of VH-MDX records, just search the records for "VH-MDX".

 

Session expired | RecordSearch | National Archives of Australia

RECORDSEARCH.NAA.GOV.AU

 

[turboplanner]

There was a bookie on board with the day's takings.

[Freizeitpilot]

I believe there are a total of six aircraft ‘parked’ on the Barrington Tops (so far)  including VH-MDX.

When I last visited hiking about 6 months ago, it was a lovely clear day in nearby Scone, but howling horizontal rain, freezing cold and zero visibility on the Tops. 

Those that may recall the lengthy manhunt for the fugitive Malcolm Naden and know the area will understand why it took so long to nab him.

 

Awesome area, but smart to fly around rather than over.

 

[FlyBoy1960]

Those that may recall the lengthy manhunt for the fugitive Malcolm Naden and know the area will understand why it took so long to nab him.

And they only found him by using technology like trail cameras, infrared cameras etc. 

 

Disregarding the fact that he was a criminal on the run, I have to admire his ability to survive for so long in one of the harshest environments out there, I would have lasted coming up to the 2nd hour

[spacesailor]

Many ( an awful lot )  years ago I did find a crashed Australian aircraft ! .

It was an Australian war plane that couldn't find the Wellington NZ airport because of dense cloud cover . It circled Wellington untill it ran out of fuel 

All the time talking to Wellington airport control .

I photographed the engine block , to get the number . & got the story. 

It was I initially found  after many years . And a dozer was used the bury it & the crew . I found the missing  engine , less than 5 miles from  my house .

spacesailor

[Freizeitpilot]

6 hours ago, FlyBoy1960 said:

Those that may recall the lengthy manhunt for the fugitive Malcolm Naden and know the area will understand why it took so long to nab him.

And they only found him by using technology like trail cameras, infrared cameras etc. 

 

Disregarding the fact that he was a criminal on the run, I have to admire his ability to survive for so long in one of the harshest environments out there, I would have lasted coming up to the 2nd hour

He stole a fair bit of food, clothes and weapons from farmhouses etc, and that’s ultimately how he was tracked down. Some anecdotes suggest he was almost relieved to be captured - he’d had enough of living rough and being on the run for 7 years.

 

Still, I wouldn’t want to spend too much time there without shelter, particularly over winter - it snows .

[onetrack]

There's at least three things about the crash of VH-MDX, that numerous amateur searchers fail to appreciate. 1. The aircraft quite likely broke up in flight due to icing and tumbling out of control. This would mean a number of pieces of the aircraft fell to Earth, thus making the "crash site", multiple "crash sites". 2. The aircraft was way off track, and no-one really knows what track it actually followed. It could be 10 or 15kms away from the "calculated" potential crash positions. Even several kms off the projected track would make for a much larger search area. 3. Lots of very well-informed, competent and highly qualified people have spend a lot of time searching for the aircraft wreckage, and constantly come up totally empty-handed - with not even a tiny piece of wreckage or aircraft contents having been found. This indicates to me that the aircraft is well outside any area previously searched.

[turboplanner]

4 hours ago, onetrack said:

There's at least three things about the crash of VH-MDX, that numerous amateur searchers fail to appreciate. 1. The aircraft quite likely broke up in flight due to icing and tumbling out of control. This would mean a number of pieces of the aircraft fell to Earth, thus making the "crash site", multiple "crash sites". 2. The aircraft was way off track, and no-one really knows what track it actually followed. It could be 10 or 15kms away from the "calculated" potential crash positions. Even several kms off the projected track would make for a much larger search area. 3. Lots of very well-informed, competent and highly qualified people have spend a lot of time searching for the aircraft wreckage, and constantly come up totally empty-handed - with not even a tiny piece of wreckage or aircraft contents having been found. This indicates to me that the aircraft is well outside any area previously searched.

In the hundreds of online discussions, some highly skilled navigators pooled information from the radio transmissions, second by second, position reports, ATC records etc. and over time I think the area decided on is not unreasonable. The crash area has been described as double canopy, so when anything falls in the net view through the canopies is going to be pretty much  closed again. 

 

The ground parties have gone in well informed but the problem is they've only been able to search minute pockets due to the rough terrain.

 

[facthunter]

You'd probably have to kick the engine with your foot to notice anything amongst the Vines and undergrowth.  Nev

[spacesailor]

That is what I practically did . 

Walking through the dense  bush , and there was an engine .

I never thought to scout around , who knows what your first thoughts will be ! .

That engine could have been many miles away from the wreckage site .

A tree could have knocked it out before the plane actually crashed. 

spacesailor