Disaster in the Dandenongs
The Dandenong Ranges lie a little over 30 kilometres to the east of the Melbourne CBD. Of volcanic origin the main range is orientated North South on its major axis for about 14 kilometres and rises to an elevation of 633 metres above sea level. For the most part it is thickly timbred by tall eucalypts and on the higher slopes Mountain Ash. In the late 1930’s the Dandenongs became inextricably linked with the most significant single event in the development of Australia’s airline industry. The Douglas DC-2 Kyeema, operated by Australian National Airways, was en route from Adelaide to Melbourne when it overshot Essendon Airport by 20 miles. Descending into thick cloud, it crashed into Mt Dandenong, killing all 18 occupants. Locals, hearing the mighty crash raced to the scene and as they scrambled down the mountain they found that except for the tail and the wing section that had been sheared off by the trees, the big aeroplane was completely fragmented and strewn up the mountain, wedged in forks of trees and impaled on broken branches. Looking through the trees in the direction of Croydon, the first witnesses could see where the aeroplane had lopped off the tree tops for the full width of its wing span like a giant motor mower and had slammed into a number of large trees before the wings were torn from the fuselage. Airmail carried by the Kyeema was found the following day, still intact and in the bag in which it was being carried which had been thrown clear. Some of the envelopes had to be repaired but all the addresses were legible and the letters were delivered to their destinations. The subsequent inquiry found that an inadequate radio system caused the disaster and the findings triggered the beginning of air traffic control as we now know it in Australia and the founding of the Department of Civil Aviation. After the inquiry the location of the crash was largely forgotten until, in the early 70’s a group of journalists and air safety officials mounted a campaign to relocate the site. Records from the inquiry failed to shed any light on the exact location, and the team, along with the Mt Dandenong Historical Society took matters into their own hands, painstakingly searched the area piecing together information from photographs and old documents trying to pinpoint the exact location of the crash. Finally, on their third expedition, aided by the Forest Commission they found the broken branches from the original photographs. From here they were able to recover solidified aluminium alloy from the plane along with a piece of cabin window, windscreen glass and the outer case of a wrist watch. Some weeks later on the 25th October 1978 on the 40th anniversary of the crash, a bronze plaque was erected above the crash site. This plaque as been updated over the years and can be visited today at the start of the Kyeema track. The cache is hidden a little further along the Kyeema track from the memorial. You are looking for a 400ml container, and do not need to leave the track to find it.
