Flight data recorders were invented in response to the worst aviation disaster in Australian history, the crash of TAA Flight 538. The information collected by flight data recorders can provide clarity in the aftermath of a crash and help to prevent the recurrence of similar crashes. How does this relate to the Bible, and what questions does it answer? What hope does it give us when life seems cruel and hard to understand?
THE MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE OF FLIGHT 538
INTRODUCTION
The world changed forever when the Wright brothers took to the sky on 17 December, 1903, and showed us what their flying machine could do. Their historic first flight lasted just 12 seconds and covered 40 meters.
From that humble beginning the aviation industry has developed into one of the largest and fastest growing in the world. At any given time, there are 9,700 planes and 1.2 million people in the sky.
So, it’s no surprise that last year the aviation industry generated global revenue of over 900 billion dollars, as well as providing over 65 million jobs worldwide. And all this has happened in less than 120 years.
Aeroplanes have also come a long way since the Wright brothers’ first flight in their simple designed plane, the Wright Flyer. In fact, the wingspan of an Airbus [A380], the largest commercial airliner, is double the length of the Wright brothers’ original flight.
And the average Boeing 747 has around 280kms of wiring and 6 million parts. That’s certainly a lot more technical and sophisticated than the original Wright Flyer!
The airline industry’s safety record has also improved significantly over the past 100 years. The first fatal aviation accident involving a powered aircraft was the crash of a Wright Model A aircraft in 1908. The plane was piloted by Orville Wright, one of the Wright brothers. The crash injured Orville and killed the passenger, Thomas Selfridge.
But today, flying is the safest way to travel. Traveling by plane is 10 times safer than making the trip by train, and 19 times safer than in a car. The chance of you boarding a flight that will be in a fatal accident is one in seven million.
How did flying get so safe and reliable? Well, in part because previous accidents triggered crucial safety improvements. And one of those accidents, whose influence is felt each time you step on a plane, happened right here.
This is the story of Trans Australian Airlines Flight 538, that crashed into the sea near Mackay on 10th June 1960, killing all 29 people on board. Join me as we take a look at the mysterious circumstances surrounding Australia’s worst civil aviation disaster. It’s real, it’s tragic, and it’s relevant – because it carries a special message for us today.
MACKAY – THE SETTING
Mackay is a relaxed coastal town located on the east coast of Australia, about 950 kilometres north of Brisbane, along the banks of the Pioneer River. The area is known as the Mackay-Whitsunday region and has been nicknamed the sugar capital of Australia, because it produces more than a third of Australia’s sugar.
The region is also famous for its endless nature and wildlife. There’s kilometres of pristine rainforest, cool freshwater gorges, and splendid sandy beaches. There’s over 860 plant species and 330 bird species. There are Platypus in its clear rainforest rivers; and wallabies and kangaroos on its sandy beaches.
MACKAY – THE HISTORY
The city was named after pioneering explorer John Mackay, who was the leader of the first expedition into the Pioneer Valley in 1860. Interestingly, almost a hundred years before Mackay explored the region, Captain James Cook was one of the first European explorers to navigate the Mackay coast in June of 1770.
John Mackay was born in Inverness, Scotland and moved to Australia with his parents when he was 15 years old. The family settled in the New England District of what was then the British Colony of New South Wales, where Mackay’s father bought a property near Uralla.
In 1860 Mackay led a party of eight men to explore the area surrounding the Pioneer River along the central Queensland coast. They left Uralla in January of 1860 and arrived in Gladstone two months later, and then in Rockhampton two weeks after that.
In Rockhampton two of the group left the expedition, and the remaining six made their way north across the Broadsound Ranges and up the Isaac River. Much of the land in that region had already been marked out by a previous expedition and Mackay and his group turned north-east.
They discovered a coastal valley, and after several days’ journey they came to the banks of a large river. They named the river Mackay River, known today as the Pioneer River, in honour of John Mackay’s father, and followed it north and then east before finally discovering vast grassy plains, which they named the May Plains.
These plains were located in the area where the town of Mackay and its suburbs are now situated. In the weeks following their discovery, the group began marking out land for themselves. John Mackay marked out large portions of land on the south bank of the Pioneer river for himself, which he named the Greenmount and Cape Palmerston runs.
John Mackay became the first European settler in the region, and took up residence here on the Greenmount Station, on the southern side of the Pioneer River, in 1861.
In the late 19th century the region of Mackay was best known as Queensland’s largest producer of beef within the Australian colonies. It was also known for its sugar industry.
Today, the region operates four sugar mills which process millions of tonnes of sugar cane. In fact, during a good year cane farmers provide a staggering 6.5 million tonnes of cane to factories for processing, from approximately 86,000 hectares of farmland.
FLIGHT 538 THE EARLY STAGES
On the 10th June 1960 Trans Australian Airlines flight 538 was scheduled to fly from
Brisbane to Mackay on the Central Queensland Coast. The flight had two planned stops on the way; one in Maryborough and another in Rockhampton.
The flight took off as scheduled at 5pm local time, with Captain F.C. Pollard and First Officer G.L. Davis in the cockpit. They had an uneventful flight to Maryborough, and then on to Rockhampton. They arrived at Rockhampton airport at 7:12pm and welcomed 16 new passengers on board, bringing the total passenger manifest to 25.
Nine of the passengers that boarded in Rockhampton were schoolboys, some as young as nine years old. They were boarders at Rockhampton Grammar School and were flying home to Mackay for the Queen’s Birthday long weekend.
While on the ground in Rockhampton, the crew received a weather forecast for Mackay. The forecast predicted shallow patches of fog, which could contribute to poor visibility at ground level. As a precaution the plane was refuelled, bringing the total fuel load to 700 gallons.
The extra fuel gave the pilots the option of flying further north to Townsville in the event that ground conditions in Mackay were unsuitable for a landing. Finally, the plane was ready for take-off and left Rockhampton at 7:52pm, climbing to an altitude of 13,000 feet or about 4,000 metres for the last leg of their journey to Mackay.
FOG DELAYS
By 8:17pm that night the Air Traffic controller at Mackay, E.W. Miskell, noticed heavy fog rolling into the airport. The Mackay airport is located right next to the ocean and flights approach the runaway over the sea, making landings at night with poor visibility quite tricky. Deciding that ground conditions were not favourable for safe take-off or landing, Miskell temporarily shut down the airport.
A few minutes later TAA Flight 538 contacted the control tower in Mackay to let them know that they were ready to make their descent into Mackay. Miskell informed Pollard of the conditions on the ground and Pollard told him that he would hold the aircraft over Mackay and wait for visibility to improve.
By 8:40pm Pollard again notified Miskell that the aircraft was over the Mackay airport. It was a clear moonlit night, but there were thick ribbons of fog huddling close to the ground. For the passengers looking out into the night, everything would have appeared calm. The ocean was like a still glass plate, lying quietly in the moonlight, completely calm and unruffled.
Pollard attempted to land the plane twice, but both times he was forced to abort the landings. The fog was too thick and too close to the ground along the coastline, making it difficult for him to see the runway on the final approach. So, he continued to hold the plane over Mackay till 10pm.
Finally, at 10pm, Miskell radioed Pollard to let him know that ground conditions were changing. The fog was beginning to thin out, making it easier to see the runway. Pollard acknowledged the message and told Miskell that he would begin his third approach to the airport.
THE CRASH
Following protocol, Miskell radioed the airport fire service, asking for a ground temperature report. He then radioed Pollard to let him know that the temperature on the ground in Mackay was 13 degrees celsius. He was greeted with radio silence. Miskell radioed Pollard with the weather report again, noting that the time was 10:05 pm. Once again, he was greeted with silence.
Five minutes later at 10:10pm, Miskell activated protocols to launch a search and rescue operation. At 3am on the 11th June, five hours after the search and rescue operation began, parts of the wreckage of the plane were discovered by a motor launch equipped with a searchlight.
The wreckage, which included passenger seats, items of clothing and cabin furnishings, was floating on the ocean about five nautical miles due east of Mackay Airport, between Round Top Island and Flat Top Island. The navy ship, HMAS Warrego arrived on the 12 June to begin searching for the sunken parts of the aircraft.
In Mackay flags were flown at half-mast, and the city was plunged into mourning. Many of the passengers had been locals, including the nine young boys who had boarded at Rockhampton. Small groups of onlookers, family and friends gathered along the shore to watch the navy ship, and other ships as they carried out their salvage operation.
At 4:20pm on the 12 June divers discovered major sections of the aircraft 13 metres underwater. It took two weeks to salvage the wreck. Then in July, a Board of Accident Inquiry was appointed to investigate the circumstances that led to the crash.
THE INVESTIGATION
Investigators were allowed time to sift through the wreckage for about four months, before the Board of Inquiry officially opened on the 4 October, 1960. After listening to hours of testimony and examining reams of evidence, the Inquiry could not determine the cause of the accident.
It looked like the plane had flown into the ocean for no apparent reason. The Board focussed its attention on several theories connected to the altimeter. Now, the altimeter’s function is to tell the pilot the altitude of the aircraft. The Board of Inquiry into the TAA Flight 538 crash speculated that the altimeter had malfunctioned, giving out a false reading of the aircraft’s altitude.
Another theory was that the pilot had misread or misinterpreted the readings of the three-point altimeter.
This led the board to speculate that perhaps the crash was a result of controlled flight into terrain, meaning that Captain Pollard misread his instruments and simply flew his plane straight into the ocean. Several other theories cropped up as well, but nobody knew for certain what had happened.
BLACK BOX RECOMMENDATION
As the Mackay community mourned the loss of life, the Board of Accident Inquiry into the crash revealed its findings and made several recommendations. One of the strongest recommendations they made was that flight data recorders be made a mandatory feature of all passenger aircraft.
The board concluded that a flight data recorder would have provided investigators with information that could have helped them to determine the exact cause of the accident. Taking on board this recommendation, Australia became the first country in the world to mandate the carriage of cockpit voice recorders on passenger aircraft.
Today every passenger aircraft is required to carry two flight recorders and mandatory regulations are overseen by the International Civil Aviation Authority.
Flight recorders, or black boxes as they are commonly known today, are located in the rear fuselage of the aircraft. This location increases the probability of successfully retrieving the data after a crash.
An interesting fact about the black box is that it is actually bright orange. The term black box originated during World War II. It was adopted by members of the RAF to describe any navigational instruments or aids that were used by British and allied combat aircraft. Most often these instruments were sealed inside non-reflective black boxes.
SOLVING MYSTERIES
Trans Australian Airlines Flight 538 still remains Australia’s worst civil aviation disaster by loss of life. It is also one of the most mysterious civil aviation disasters in history, because its cause is still undetermined
Today Black Box Flight Recorders help investigators to understand what happened inside the aircraft shortly before a crash. The data gathered from these recorders provides clarity in the aftermath of a crash, and can help prevent the recurrence of similar crashes.
Clarity and the means to prevent a recurrence are perhaps two of the most important functions of flight data recorders. After a crash so many people look for answers. They want to understand what happened, and whether or not it could have been prevented, and why, if it could have been prevented, it wasn’t. Answers don’t restore the lives that were lost, but they can ensure the safety of thousands of others.
A DIVINELY ACCURATE BLACK BOX
The Bible is perhaps the most accurate black box in history. It provides a narrative that answers some of life’s most important questions, and in doing so provides comfort and hope to all who turn its pages.
Every human being grapples with five major questions in life; Where did I come from? Why am I here? What is right and wrong? Why is there so much suffering? And Where am I going? The Bible provides clear and comprehensive answers to each of these questions.
In Genesis 1:1 the Bible gives us a concise, but clear answer regarding the question of our origin. It says,
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth”.
Then further down in the same chapter, it gives us the answer to the question of meaning. Genesis 1:27 says:
“So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.”
The Biblical narrative of creation and purpose doesn’t just give us a sense of origin and meaning, but it also provides us with a sense of intrinsic worth. To be created in the image of the eternal creator God is to have value and be valued, and if ever there was a time in history when we have needed a message of value, meaning and purpose, it is now!
The Bible then goes on to give us answers to the question of the origin of evil and suffering. Jesus addresses it in a short statement in Matthew 13:27 and 28. Using the imagery of a parable, Jesus explains where the weeds of sin and suffering have come from. Here’s what He says:
“So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ He said to them, ‘an enemy has done this.”
And later on in the same passage He explains who the enemy is: 23/5/19 VO Take 3. Broll text on the screen.
“The enemy who sowed them is the devil;” (Matthew 13:39)
Using the parable of the wheat and the tares in Matthew 13, Jesus paints a picture of a cosmic struggle taking place between the forces of good and evil, which gives us a backdrop and context for the suffering and evil we find in our world today.
The Bible also provides answers to the questions of Morality and Destiny. In Matthew 5:17 Jesus says this:
“Do not think that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For assuredly I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle will in no wise pass from the law, till all is fulfilled.”
Jesus points to the great moral law given by God Himself as not only binding but still relevant to the challenges we face in life today. The Ten Commandments are still God’s moral compass to guide us today. Finally, in John 14:1-3 Jesus gives the answer to the question of Destiny:
“In my Father’s house are many mansions…I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also”.
The Destiny of every person created in the image of God is eternity. When we look at the world around us and see the suffering, turmoil and despair, it can be difficult to pick through the debris and find hope. But the Bible offers us hope by providing us with faithful and accurate answers to life’s most pressing issues.
By providing us with answers to the questions of origin, meaning, suffering,
morality and destiny, the Bible gives us a comprehensive worldview. A lens through which we can safely and accurately view the world and navigate the obstacles that lie ahead.
But perhaps the most important answer it provides us is found in the person of Jesus Christ. In giving us the answers to life’s big questions the Bible anchors us to a person, and not just a set of rules.
AN INVITATION
The focal point of the Bible is Jesus and it is through an understanding of who Jesus is and what He did, that we can most clearly find the answers we seek. Jesus makes an irresistible invitation to us in Matthew 11:28-30. Here it is:
“Come to me, all you who labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
I don’t know what burden you’re carrying. I don’t know what’s weighing you down right now. But I do know the answer to your trouble.
When Jesus says to take his yoke upon you, he’s saying he’s going to share your problems. He’s going to share your load. He’s going to take your stress on himself and bear it with you. Wow!
He makes a 3-fold invitation – come, learn, and take. Jesus says, “Come to me. Team up with me. Then, learn how I do it. Take on a lighter load. This is going to reduce your stress. This is going to make it easier for you to navigate.”
You see, when you’re yoked with Christ, you move together with him. You move in the same direction and at the same speed. And you move in the right direction and at the right speed.
The rest and peace that we are offered in Jesus transcends any other offer we can receive. It is a peace that keeps us calm through the worst storms of life. A peace that can bring us safely to land, and a peace that can give us hope and assurance for the future.
SPECIAL OFFER
Black Boxes have made a huge difference in modern air crash investigation and have changed civil aviation regulations across the world, by providing answers in the aftermath of incomprehensible scenarios. And they’ve played a major role in making air travel so extraordinarily safe today.
Similarly, the Bible and its message has saved countless lives by pointing people to Jesus.
If you’re facing challenges in life and would like to experience inner peace and happiness, then I’d like to recommend the free gift we have for all our viewers today. It’s the Bible reading guide, God’s Power in My Life.
This reading guide is our gift to you and is absolutely free. There are no costs or obligations whatsoever. This reading guide has
brought hope, peace and happiness to many people around the world. So, don’t miss this wonderful opportunity to receive the gift we have for you today. Here’s the information you need.
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CLOSING PRAYER
The Bible and its message can make a difference in your life. It can provide you with answers to incomprehensible scenarios and challenging questions. It can give you hope and peace you never dreamed of. If you’d like to experience the inner-peace and happiness that the God of the Bible can provide, why not ask for it right now, as we pray.
Dear Heavenly Father, we all face challenges in life and we’re all carrying burdens. So, thank you for your kind invitation to help us with our burdens, and to give us rest. Some of us are tired and worn out. So, we’ve come to you to recover our lives and find real rest. Please bless us, make your face shine upon us and give us peace. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.