Dora-9
27th Mar 2012, 20:40
This issue has appeared recently on the VH-MDX forum.
To recap, Cessna 320D VH-CPP, flown by one James Clay, went missing near Coolangatta on 20 Nov 1970. The aircraft and its occupants were still unlocated when ATSB released their report (Investigation 197001306) in March 1972.
I knew of the pilot and indeed flew into Coolangatta on that very murky day in an F.27.
Now, move on nearly 30 years and I’m about to return from living overseas. We’re looking at potential house purchases; one such was a property behind Murwillumbah. I noticed some battered aircraft instruments on an office shelf; one was a twin tachometer and was labelled Cessna. The response to my query “are these from the James Clay accident?” was a mumbled affirmative. I didn’t think much more about this, thinking the wreck had been discovered but, living in HK, I’d missed the news item.
I’ve been wracking my feeble aging brain, but I can’t recall exactly where the house was where I saw the instruments.
My query is: was the wreckage of VH-CPP ever “officially” located??? Or are Clay, his hapless passenger and the Cessna 320 still missing? The thought that the wreck was looted with human remains lying nearly is particularly repulsive.
To recap, Cessna 320D VH-CPP, flown by one James Clay, went missing near Coolangatta on 20 Nov 1970. The aircraft and its occupants were still unlocated when ATSB released their report (Investigation 197001306) in March 1972.
I knew of the pilot and indeed flew into Coolangatta on that very murky day in an F.27.
Now, move on nearly 30 years and I’m about to return from living overseas. We’re looking at potential house purchases; one such was a property behind Murwillumbah. I noticed some battered aircraft instruments on an office shelf; one was a twin tachometer and was labelled Cessna. The response to my query “are these from the James Clay accident?” was a mumbled affirmative. I didn’t think much more about this, thinking the wreck had been discovered but, living in HK, I’d missed the news item.
I’ve been wracking my feeble aging brain, but I can’t recall exactly where the house was where I saw the instruments.
My query is: was the wreckage of VH-CPP ever “officially” located??? Or are Clay, his hapless passenger and the Cessna 320 still missing? The thought that the wreck was looted with human remains lying nearly is particularly repulsive.