The ''Southern Cloud'', registered VH-UMF, was one of five

Avro 618 Ten The Avro 618 Ten or X was a passenger transport aircraft of the 1930s. It was a licensed version by Avro of the Fokker F.VIIB/3m. Development In 1928 Avro came to an arrangement with Fokker to license production of its successful F.VIIB/3m fo ...

three-engined aircraft flying daily airline services between Australian cities for

Australian National Airways Australian National Airways (ANA) was Australia's predominant aerial carrier from the mid-1930s to the early 1950s. The Holyman's Airways period On 19 March 1932 Flinders Island Airways began a regular aerial service using the Desoutter Mk.I ...

in the early 1930s.

Disappearance

On 21 March 1931, the ''Southern Cloud'' departed at 8:10 AM from Sydney for

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. On board were six passengers and two crew, including pilot Travis "Shorty" Shortridge.ABC Television – 7:30 Report 30 October 2008
/ref> Weather conditions en route were hazardous and much worse than predicted. The aircraft never reached its destination and disappeared. The search for the missing aircraft lasted 18 days and involved over 20 aircraft. No trace of the missing aircraft was found. Airline co-owner

Charles Kingsford Smith Sir Charles Edward Kingsford Smith (9 February 18978 November 1935), nicknamed Smithy, was an Australian aviation pioneer. He piloted the first transpacific flight and the first flight between Australia and New Zealand. Kingsford Smith was b ...

joined the search and "may have flown over the crash site, but with the aircraft having burned it would be very difficult to distinguish from the air and so the discovery wasn't made." It was Australia's first major airline disaster. Australian National Airways folded later that year as a result of both this and another loss. A film inspired by the accident, '' The Secret of the Skies'', was released in 1934.

Investigation and aftermath

The ''Southern Cloud''s fate remained a mystery for 27 years until 26 October 1958. On that day, Tom Sonter, a worker on the

Snowy Mountains Scheme The Snowy Mountains Scheme or Snowy scheme is a hydroelectricity and irrigation complex in south-east Australia. The Scheme consists of sixteen major dams; nine power stations; two pumping stations; and of tunnels, pipelines and aqueducts that ...

, made a chance discovery of the wreck. The crash site was in heavily timbered mountainous terrain within the

Snowy Mountains The Snowy Mountains, known informally as "The Snowies", is an IBRA subregion in southern New South Wales, Australia, and is the tallest mountain range in mainland Australia, being part of the continent's Great Dividing Range cordillera system ...

about east of the direct Sydney–Melbourne route. Investigations concluded that the severe weather conditions at the time of the flight most likely contributed to the crash. A man named Stan Baker had been booked to fly on the fateful journey, but cancelled and travelled by train instead. As a result of the aircraft's disappearance, he harboured a lifelong

fear of flying Fear of flying is a fear of being on an airplane, or other flying vehicle, such as a helicopter, while in flight. It is also referred to as flying anxiety, flying phobia, flight phobia, aviophobia, aerophobia, or pteromechanophobia (although ae ...

– which was proved justifiable when he was killed in the

1950 Australian National Airways Douglas DC-4 crash On 26 June 1950, a Douglas DC-4 Skymaster aircraft departed from Perth, Western Australia for an eight-hour flight to Adelaide, South Australia. It crashed 22 minutes after take-off, east of Perth Airport. All 29 occupants were killed in the ...

. In

Don Bradman Sir Donald George Bradman, (27 August 1908 – 25 February 2001), nicknamed "The Don", was an Australian international cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time. Bradman's career Test batting average of 99.94 has bee ...

's book ''Farewell to Cricket'' he mentions that he flew in ''Southern Cloud'' with pilot Shortridge from Adelaide to Melbourne, then to Goulburn not long before the tragedy. He described the trip as a 'bumpy journey'. After the discovery of the wreckage, a large memorial incorporating salvaged parts from the plane was erected in the nearby town of

Cooma Cooma is a town in the south of New South Wales, Australia. It is located south of the national capital, Canberra, via the Monaro Highway. It is also on the Snowy Mountains Highway, connecting Bega with the Riverina. At the , Cooma had a po ...

. The crash site is north west from

Deep Creek Dam The Deep Creek Dam located about 8 miles north of Oakland, Maryland, consists of an earth and rockwall dam across a tributary of the Youghiogheny River that was completed in 1925 by the Pennsylvania Electric Company. Construction of the dam creat ...

; there is a small stream adjacent to the crash site named Shortridge Creek which is a tributary of Deep Creek a short way downstream of the dam. It is unclear when the pilot's name was assigned to the stream or by whom.

References and notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Avro Ten Southern Cloud disappearance 1931 1931 disasters in Australia 1930s in New South Wales 1930s missing person cases 1931 in Australia Airliner accidents and incidents involving controlled flight into terrain Australian National Airways (1930) accidents and incidents Aviation accidents and incidents in 1931 Aviation accidents and incidents in New South Wales March 1931 events Missing aircraft Missing person cases in Australia

Disappearance

Investigation and aftermath

See also

References and notes