FORCE LANDING OF A BEAUFIGHTER
AT COOMALIE CREEK
ON 21 MAY 1943

visits since 26 December 2001

Bill McKinnon of 31 Squadron RAAF based at Coomalie Creek airfield in the Northern Territory took off on a test flight in Beaufighter A19-86 on 21 May 1943. The aircraft lost one engine and McKinnon managed made a successful single engine landing at CCoomalie Creek airfield. The cause of the engine failure was a sleeve that had seized, possibly due to a broken spark plug. This broke the crank on the sleeve operating gear.

31 Squadron RAAF - Beaufighter
(Another Internet site on 31 Squadron by Alan Brassil)

REFERENCE BOOKS

"Coomalie Charlie's Commandos - 31 Squadron RAAF" (page 79)
"Beaufighters at Darwin 1942-43"
by Kenneth Neal McDonald, DFC

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This page first produced 24 October 1999

This page last updated 26 December 2001