CRASH OF A MOSQUITO
10 MILES NE OF KINGAROY, QLD
ON 7 MAY 1945

At about 0945 hours on 7 May 1945, Mosquito A52-523 of 1 Squadron RAAF, crashed 10 miles north east of Kingaroy Airfield in south east Queensland. This location was about 3 miles from "Daisy Bank". The aircraft disintegrated in mid air during a non-operational Height Test exercise local flight.

Flight Lieutenant Stanley Frank Burdwood Davies (415124) - Pilot
Pilot Officer John Michael Daniel Pigott (435178) - Navigator

'The cause of the disintegration & subsequent crash was overstressing by the pilot. However the evidence of faulty gluing points to the advisability of a check of the system of inspection at this stage of manufacture. In this regard attention is drawn to the report on the accident ??52-29 (32/52/507). From the point of view of handling, attention is drawn to the recommendations outlined in D.F.S. HQ, File 9/52/172 under the heading "Flying Safety - Mosquito Structural Failures in Flight - Suggested remedial Action"'.

Civilian witnesses saw the aircraft explode in mid air during straight and level flight. Another probably more "reliable" civilian reported that the aircraft was in a steep dive at high speed with terrific noise, and the pilot pulled out at approximately 6,000 feet and the witness saw complete disintegration of both wings. Wing wreckage indicated that the wings broke outboard of the engine nacelles. The port mainplane was complete from wing tip inboard for approximately 12 feet. The Commanding Officer was of the opinion that the basic cause of the structural failure was mishandling by the pilot during a pull out at high speed, higher than 450pmh.

I'd like to thank Ken Goodman for his assistance with this web page.
 

Can anyone help me with more information on this crash?

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This page first produced 30 June 2026

This page last updated 30 June 2026