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Safety

For the public by and large, civil aviation was initially perceived to be a dangerous business.[i] It was associated with warfare as well as the daring escapades of pioneering aviators, significant numbers of whom died in accidents and other misadventure that were widely reported in the media. In 1933 Bert Hinkler was killed when he crashed into the Italian Apennines; Charles Ulm died the following year in a crash in the Pacific Ocean; and Charles Kingsford Smith’s plane disappeared over the Bay of Bengal in 1935.

Although deaths in civil aviation were not numerous, there were several high profile disasters in the 1930s that captured the public’s attention. On 19 February 1937, a Stinson plane crashed into the Lamington Ranges in Queensland. Of the seven on board, four were killed instantly. A search failed to locate the wreckage but a Beaudesert grazier, Bernard O’Reilly, famously used his bush skills to locate the wreck and two survivors.[ii] The story stunned the nation. In the following year, eighteen people, including the Federal MP Charles Hawker, died when their aircraft crashed into Mt Dandenong in a fog. This was a catalyst for the creation of the Department of Civil Aviation.

Australia had ratified the International Convention for the Regulation of Aerial Navigation on 13 October 1919. The Commonwealth Air Navigation Act, 1920, came into being to give effect to this Convention. In turn, this Act prompted the Tasmanian Commonwealth Powers (Air Navigation) Act of 1920, the 1928 Commonwealth Arrangements Act (part 3) in Victoria and the Commonwealth Powers (Air Navigation) Act of 1920 in South Australia.

A High Court challenge in 1936, however, found that the Commonwealth did not have constitutional power to make general legislation for the control of air navigation. (It had legislated to implement the Convention via the ‘external affairs’ section [55, xxiv] of the Constitution.) The Court also ruled the regulations invalid as they differed in some ways from the Convention.[i] They were repealed and replaced by those in the Air Navigation Regulations.[ii] These were to be temporary until the outcome of a referendum to amend the constitution to allow the Commonwealth to legislate for air navigation generally. The High Court Challenge originated on 1 November 1934 when Henry Goya Henry was charged and found guilty at Sydney’s Central Court under the Air Navigation Act of breeching a number of regulations at Mascot Aerodrome in September 1934. He was fined £1 with costs.

The referendum was held on 6 March 1937. Some newspapers reported that ‘the only serious opposition comes from railway quarters, particularly in New South Wales and Western Australia. In these quarters’, the Cairns Post noted, ‘the view is held that if the Commonwealth has complete power of regulation over the air it will prevent any state from taking action to co-ordinate air and railway transport in connection with air services which are confined to the state’.[iii] Of all voters, 53.56% supported the amendment. But it failed to gain a majority of states and was thus rejected.

In an article in the British magazine Flight, Edward J. Hart, former editor of the Australian paper Aircraft, told his readers:

Between sunrise and sunset of March 6, 1937, the whole aspect of civil aviation in Australia changed from national acceptance of the Air Navigation Act (1921) to what Australia’s Prime Minister terms “absolute chaos” – and back has swung the pendulum to the disastrous pre-control era of 1918-20 when a pilot was free to break a neck without breaking an Act…

 …In 1918 two so-called commercial aviation companies were registered; one with a nominal capital of £150,000. Twelve others were born in 1919, and fourteen more in 1920. Also there were several private owners – some wholly untrained. Most of these enterprises were short-lived – literally. For three years there was no semblance of official control.[iv]

 In response to the failed referendum, a conference of Ministers of the commonwealth and states, chaired by Robert Menzies, agreed to introduce uniform legislation in each state with administrative responsibility resting with the commonwealth. During the proceedings, Menzies said that he would put a request from Tasmania to the federal cabinet for a comprehensive inquiry into civil aviation. Tasmanian Premier Ogilvie, ‘suggested that the appointment of a royal commission or some similar body was essential to restore public confidence, particularly in Tasmania. His State had a severe experience from aviation disasters’. A new Air Navigation Bill was introduced into federal parliament later that year. During the second reading, Attorney General Albert Bussau alluded to air safety issues for which new provisions had been developed. These related to ‘flights over the sea; smoking on aircraft; imperilling the safety of aircraft by interference with the crew or by disorderly conduct; carriage of persons on the wings or under-carriage of aircraft; the carriage of intoxicated persons on aircraft; and parachute descents’.[v]

Before 1927, accidents were investigated by individually appointed boards of inquiry. Public disquiet led in that year to the establishment of an Air Accident Investigation Committee. Most civil aviation investigations related to minor incidents involving light planes. In 1936-37, for example, the Committee dealt with 107 minor and 15 major accidents.[vi]

There was a rapid increase in internal air travel from the 1950s to 1970s in Australia. But fatalities in civil aviation have been relatively low and reasonably constant, considering populations increases, from the 1960s. The majority of accidents still involve light aircraft. More accidents and incidents, however, occur more frequently than is commonly understood. In 2002, for example, ‘107 accidents, 195 serious incidents, and over 7,300 incidents’ were reported to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.[vii]

The agencies, departments and organisations currently responsible for civil aviation safety are Airservices, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, the Department of Infrastructure and Transport and the Bureau of Meteorology. And they have both national and international roles to play. As the Royal Aeronautical Society (Australian Division) has observed, Australia ‘is located in what will soon be the largest aviation market in the world. Whilst Australia may be a relatively small player in the global sense, it is recognised internationally for its high technology and safety standards… Australia is… in a strong position to develop aviation policies and operational practices appropriate to our region’.[viii]

Heritage Resources 

In general terms, the preservation of material associated with aviation maintenance and support services appears to be quite limited, and there may be significant gaps in holdings. QANTAS holds a substantial amount of historic servicing gear, and the Airways Museum at Essendon holds equipment used for the maintenance of aviation related electronic systems.  At present these collections have limited documentation, and little information is available to the public. Various ground vehicles, such as air stairs, ground tractors, petrol tankers and fire equipment are individually held by museums across the country.