No. 24 Squadron Wirraway (A20-117) Crash

Ravenswood Airstrip

In June 1940 No.24 Squadron moved to Townsville to carry out maritime reconnaissance and training duties. Equipped with Australian built Wirraway aircraft, this single engined monoplane fighter was based on an American training aircraft and carried a pilot plus an observer/rear gunner.

Place information

Location

Mount Wright (in the vacinity of)

Ravenswood, QLD 4816

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Place type

Incident

History

On 18 April 1941, a 24 Squadron Wirraway (A20-117) flew from Townsville to undertake training at Ravenswood, which had a small graded airstrip constructed during the mid 1930s.

Whilst undertaking manouvers over the town, both Flying Officer Ian Lombton Menzies (29) and Observer Corporal Kenneth Ian Scott (24) were killed instantly when their aircraft crashed after an engine stall. A Court of Enquiry stated that the aircraft probably stalled whilst performing a steep turn in which that there was insufficient height to recover.

In 2010, an interview was conducted with a Ravenswood family descendent who was mentioned in the Court of Enquiry....

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