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50th Anniversary of the Southern Cloud DiscoveryPrint Page Print this page

Southern Cloud Discovery : 18-February-2011
Southern Cloud Discovery : 18-February-2011
Photographs supplied by Glen Yeomans

The plaque commemorates the the 50th Anniversary of the discovery of the wreckage of the Southern Cloud aeroplane which disappeared in 1931 and was found in 1958.

Southern Cloud was one of five Avro X aircraft operated by Australian National Airways. The company was founded in 1929 by aviation pioneers Charles Kingsford Smith and Charles Ulm. The wreckage was found by accident more than 20 years later. A worker on the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme discovered the plane near Deep Creek in 1958. Within days hundreds of people visited the site, many collecting souvenirs.

The Southern Cloud, crashed on a flight from Sydney to Melbourne in 1931, killing the two crew and six passengers on board. Although its wreckage was not discovered for 27 years, the disappearance of the Southern Cloud prompted an investigating committee to advise that all passenger aircraft should be equipped with two-way radios. In addition, ground radio stations should be established to communicate with the planes and to monitor progress towards their destinations.

Location

Address:Tooma Road, Southern Cloud Memorial Lookout (5km fromTooma), Tooma, 2642
State:NSW
Area:AUS
GPS Coordinates:Lat: -35.941917
Long: 148.0806
Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.
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Details

Monument Type:Monument
Monument Theme:Disaster
Sub-Theme:Aviation
Actual Event Start Date:21-March-1931
Actual Event End Date:21-March-1931

Dedication

Actual Monument Dedication Date:Sunday 26th October, 2008
Front Inscription

26 October 2008

On the 50th anniversary of the Southern Cloud`s discovery, Tom Sonter, relatives of passengers and crew and people of the district gathered here at the crash site to remember.

"If the wings hadn`t moved as I stood on them I would never ever have known it was there."

Source: MA
Monument details supplied by Monument Australia - www.monumentaustralia.org.au