Gentlemen, the internet and google sometimes throw up priceless gems when searching for something else.
I reccomend the following link.
Aircraft Accident Investigation at ARL: The First 50 Years
<To quote pages 3 and 4>
Sir William Glasgow, Minister for Defence, signed a Statutory Rule on 25 May 1927 under the Air Navigation Act of 1920 appointing an Air Accidents Investigation Committee.
The committee was empowered to make an independent inquiry into aircraft accidents, to study probable causes and to suggest preventative measures.
Composition of the committee was:
"* Professor Henry Payne, Melbourne University (Chairman)
"* Mr Marcus Bell, Superintendent Defence Laboratories
"* Colonel H.B.L. Gipps, Chief Inspector Munitions Inspection Branch
"* Squadron Leader Eric Harrison, RAAF
"* Captain E.J. Jones, Superintendent Flying Operations, CAB
"* Flight Lieutenant William Palstra, RAAF (Secretary)
While some of these men had some previous experience in aircraft accident investigation, the relevance of others is doubtful and the NSW Section of the Australian Aero Club was quick to voice its disapproval.
The committee made a flying start by holding its first meeting at Victoria Barracks, Melbourne on 25 May.
AAIC Report no. 1 covered the accident to DH.9C G-AUED at Tambo, Qld on 24 March 1927.
This was the first fatal accident suffered by Qantas; the aircraft stalled on final approach and its three occupants were killed on impact.
Then followed Reports 2-4 covering the DH.9 collision, A2-24 and A2- 11 respectively.
The committee plied its trade with considerable diligence to the extent that when the DH Moth A7-10 crashed at Point Cook, Vic. on 5 January 1930, the matter was addressed by AAIC Report no. 70.
On I February 1931, membership was reduced from six to three as a government economy measure but the diligence, if not the intelligence, remained unimpaired.
Thereafter, the committee seems to have run into an increasing amount of trouble,
particularly when investigating accidents which could not be summarised simply as engine failure or pilot error.
Accidents to the Jones Wonga VH-ULZ and the Puss Moth VH-UPM in 1932 produced a crisis.
The Wonga was a single engine, high wing monoplane designed by L.J.R. Jones and built during 0929-30.
After successfully completing about 100 hours of flying, the aircraft crashed during a short test flight at Quaker's Hill, NSW on 16 June 1932.
Eyewitnesses observed the aircraft to bank steeply before diving to the ground causing fatal injuries to both occupants.
At the inquest held on 5 July 1932, the AAIC reported its conclusion that the accident had resulted from low flying and bad weather.
Subsequently T.D.J. Leech, lecturer in civil engineering, University of Sydney, built a scale model of the Quaker's Hill area and tested it in the G.A. Taylor memorial wind tunnel.
From these tests he concluded that the aircraft probably encountered severe turbulence when the loss of control occurred.
These findings, together with the unhappy experience of the Puss Moth described in the next section, promoted a crisis of confidence in the AAIC.
In a report to the Federal Government, a voluntary committee of aeronautical engineers
charged the AAIC with insufficient inquiry, faulty conclusions and unfair reflections on the ability of deceased pilots.
It recommended that all of the personnel of the AAIC be replaced with experts drawn from appropriate professional and scientific fields.
Faced with open rebellion, the government predictably closed ranks.
On 21 April 1933, Sir George Pearce, Minister for Defence, stated that:
"the voluntary committee had adopted an attitude of superiority which neither the constitution or qualifications justify"
and the AAIC lived to fight another day.
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History does repeat itself ............ no ?
