VH-ANA Douglas
DC-4-1009 'Amana'
(c/n 42910)
The
ill-fated first DC-4 of Australian National Airways. The first
five DC-4s delivered to
ANA
were "true" DC-4s, known as the Douglas DC-4-1009 model.
i.e. purpose built
as
civilian airliners, and not
converted C-54s. In accordance with ANA's naming policy
of
the day, they were all given names with an aboriginal flavor ending in
'-ana'. VH-ANA
had its first
flight at the Douglas plant at Santa Monica Municipal Airport (later
to become
a frequent
haunt of mine) on 28 January 1946. It transited the Pacific
and was delivered
to ANA
on 9 February of the same year. From 1948 until 1948 ANA flew
trans-Pacific
flights for, and on
behalf of, the as yet un-born British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines.
The photo at the foot
of the page, from Exxon Mobil archives (via Wally Civitico) shows
'Amana'
being refueled at Oakland, California during the years that these
flights were under-
taken. The
flag flying from the cockpit appears to be a white ensign. The
other two photos
(above and below) came
from
Australian National Airways.
. On 22.00 hours on 26 June
1950 'Amana" departed
Guildford
Airport, Perth en route to
Adelaide and
Melbourne. It
crashed some 12
minutes later near
York, W.A. with the loss
of 29 lives. Although the
cause of the crash was never truly
identified it was suspected that
it was due to engine
failure
caused by an open
cross-feed drain
cock.
.
