Air Safety

The next time you fly, think of Bob…

by Steve Swift Engineer Flight Standards Division, DofA

On Sunday, September 29, 1985, Bob Douglas had originally planned to spend a quiet day at home with his family. Instead, he spent the day in his office studying the structure of the Britten Norman Islander, a twin-engined aircraft capable of carrying 10 people.

The event that intervened was the crash of an Islander in a remote, mountainous country in Papua New Guinea with the loss of three lives. First reports from the wreckage site indicated the aircraft had suffered a structural failure and broken up in flight. Bob’s concern was that there were 22 similar aircraft operating in Australia.

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