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On This Day - May 31, 1928. Charles Kingsford Smith, Charles Ulm and two additional crew members set-off from the United States (Oakland, California) in an attempt to fly across the Pacific Ocean to Australia. Their aircraft, a Fokker tri-motor, was named 'Southern Cross'. LINK |
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On This Day - May 31, 1965. The Ansett Flying Boat Services Short S.25 Sunderland Mk 5 VH-BRF 'Islander' was badly damaged at Lord Howe Island when it broke its mooring at night during a storm, and was blown ashore. |
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On This Day - May 31, 1972. The Ansett Airlines of Australia Air Cargo Lockheed 188AF Electra VH-RMC returned to service, following its conversion to an 'all-freight' configuration by Lockheed. |
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On This Day - May 31, 1974. The Ansett Flying Boat Services Short S.25 Sandringham Mk 4 flying boat VH-BRC 'Beachcomber' operated the airline's final scheduled flying boat service from Sydney (Rose Bay) to Lord Howe Island. This aircraft then maintained a 'token' service to Lord Howe whilst the Island's airstrip was completed and commissioned. |
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On This Day - May 31, 1974. The East-West Airlines Fokker F.27-1131 Friendship VH-EWL 'City of Albury' was destroyed whilst attempting to land at Bathurst at night. The aircraft was operating the Sydney (Kingsford Smith) - Orange - Bathurst - Sydney (Kingsford Smith) route. The pilots encountered wind-sheer just on touch-down, and on striking the ground, the aircraft was flung into an uncontrolled slide for 625 metres across the airport. The flight crew and 30 passengers escaped major injuries. |
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On This Day - May 31, 1982. The Trans-Australia Airlines Douglas DC-9-31 VH-TJN 'Paul Strezlecki' operated its last revenue service as Flight TN500 from Hobart to Melbourne (Tullamarine). It was then withdrawn from service and prepared for sale to Airborne Express, having flown 35,577 hours with 38,911 cycles. |
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On This Day - May 31, 1988. The Trans-Australia Airlines Boeing 727-276A VH-TBG 'Charles Sturt' operated its last service in the airline's 'camel-hump' livery. It was then repainted into the 'Australian Airlines' livery. |
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On This Day - May 31, 2005. The Qantas Airways Boeing 737-838 VH-VYE 'Karak' was rolled out at Melbourne (Tullamarine) with 'Melbourne Commonwealth Games 2006' titles. It entered service, operating Flight QF624 from Melbourne (Tullamarine) to Brisbane. |
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On This Day - May 31, 2008. The Qantas Airways Airbus A380-842 F-WWSK (VH-OQA) was rolled out at Hamburg (Finkenwerder) in the airline's 'New Roo' livery. |
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