Ansett-Ana Viscount Accident Botany Bay Nov30 19611961

[boaccomet4]

On the evening of Nov30 1961 and Ansett-ANA Vickers Viscount (Fligth 325) crashed shortly after takeoff from Sydney-Canberra.
Aircraft was on lease from TAA and registered VH-TVC. Cause of accident attributed to the aircraft encountering severe turbulence and thunderstorm activity, loss of control due inflight failure of outer starboard wing, loss of starboard tailplane and part of the tailfin/rudder.
Aircraft not equipped with CVR/FDR nor weather radar. Also ATC not equipped with weather radar at that time.
The accident stands out for me because at the time my father had a factory at Botany and a couple of days later we actually drove past the beach where wreckage was being retrieved and my father demanded that I not look as the scene was somewhat gruesome.
Years later I met up with an ex Ansett-ANA air hostess who was flying for Ansett at the time and she explained that one of the air hostesses had expressed concerns/premonition that she would be involved in an accident.
Also learnt that one of the Air Traffic Controllers suffered emotionally as a result of both the accident and the subsequent inquiry,
Would be interested to hear from crew and ATC staff who were around at that time.
My research indicates that the installation of Weather Radar in both airliners and ATC centres were recommended after the inquiry..

[Turnleft080]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansett-ANA_Flight_325

A bit more info here on wikipedia, looks like Viscounts did not like turbulence. The aircraft had taken off on 07 told to maintain rwy hdg till reaching 3000 then turn
west and fly overhead the airport at 5000 or above. Indeed radars were recommended after the inquiry.

Take the same flight today, same WX conditions you have a more reliable aircraft, a ND display showing WX and turb, A/T,A/P,LNAV,VNAV and an IPAD connected to wifi.
Back in 1960 it's look out the window and the best WX radar those days was to listen to the crackle in your headset and watch the ADF needle point momentarily
to the lighting. Paint the picture yourself. A 60 year difference.

[boaccomet4]

Turnleft080 - Thank you for your feedback. I did actually look at both the Wikipedia file that you mentioned and also the findings of Justice Spicer after the Inquiry into the accident which was held in 1962 plus a number of sites that had similar information on the accident prior to posting this thread. There is even footage on youtube of the incident. Remember well how the ADF needle would twitch towards where the cell activity was.

[Lookleft]

I knew a bloke who was a RAAF pilot and flew the A model Herc. He would tell the story that he was supposed to fly from Willie to Richmond that night but refused to because he didn't like weather. He said that the only thing that stopped him from getting a court-martial was the Viscount accident. He told a lot of stories.

[Judd]

The weather was really bad news and the pilot could have delayed the takeoff until the heavy rain over the airfield had cleared. Even with weather radar, the torrential rain from the thunderstorm overhead of the field would have rendered any airborne weather radar temporarily useless due to rain attenuation on the radome which severely reduces the effective range. The whole radar screen becomes a green mess. I talked to a witness that watched the flight crew walk out to the aircraft and couldn't believe they would takeoff in such conditions. The Court of Inquiry made a finding that part of the reason the aircraft broke up in mid air was the likely overcontrolling by the pilot in turbulence.