Michael Summers

The reply to my post reference the Radar Plot at Craven.

At the time the aircraft disappeared it was not radar identified. The aircraft was observed 36 - 40nm North of Singleton on the Mount Sandon - Singleton track at time 0928. Given the comments from the controllers it is evident that there was no accurate position on the aircraft or an accurate heading able to be determined. The Radar diagram on the website I believe is completely mis-leading. It has the aircraft identified at the position above but then it has it heading east to the final position, number 2 on the plot. From what I can determine from the transcript, after it was first identified and lost on the screen, it was not identified again. This is evident by the fact that at 0936 the controllers are asking him to squark ident. He says" were squarking 3000 with ident..." and the comments "we're looking for you". in other words they had no data indicating where the aircraft went after they first identified it north of Singleton and it is still not on the screen. Also the fact it wasn't able to be identified by the Williamtown Radar head at the time it disappeared was because it was below the line of sight of the Radar due to the terrain around the Barrington tops area and because the aircraft was so far to the North West. My belief is that after it was first identified at 0928 it continued on roughly the same heading it was on from Craven (approx 315 degrees magnetic), taking it even further away from Radar coverage, ending up flying the route I posted on my previous blog. If it indeed was where the final indication is on the drawing, at 5000 feet, it would have been well and truly inside radar coverage and they would have seen an exact position where it went in. The final plotted position on the radar plot is less than 40nm from Williamtown. A radar would certainly be able to detect an aircraft above 5000 feet at this range. Also the controllers only suggested he "....head east toward the coast, toward Wlliamtown". They had no idea where he was heading, this was just a suggested course of action. In summary I believe the radar drawing is unreliable.

I have also attached the missing page of the transcript, page 2 as it doesn't show up on the website.

cheers,

Michael

Andrew Cusbert

Hi
I have followed this since the accident and have owned property in east Btops (moppy) since 94 and have been trailriding up there since 89.
I have met Jack and Dell O hare,
Have you search the upper devils hole and between the mount carson trail and kholwa trail?
and the manning river gorge country east of the ohares and wombat rd
Regards
Andrew

Hi Andrew,

Thanks for your email, No i havent been through this area. I concentrate my search area in the Pol Blue area after a pilots visual sighting of what he thought was a wing on the side of a hill. He was a little vague on the exact area. He even went back years later and flew over the supposed spot and didnt find anything. But i like to be sure and I'll continue in this area for a while. Due to work commitments I havent been up there for over a year. Why do you think the plane is in this area? and have you done much searching or investigation in this area.

Nev



Hi Nev,
I am talking right beside polblue,
I am a professional firefighter of 25 years service
Like I told you, I have followed this since the accident ,studying every piece of info that i have found, flight paths, topography etc.
Till i found your blog yesterday i have beeen silent
I know the area pretty well, I have a property that goes up to 900 metres,it butts onto the mount carson trail (1500) and is in the Moppy/Kholwa region. My farm is about 13km due east of polblue. Like I said I have ridden around on trail bikes all over the tops since 1989 and I find lost trails, Replica colt pistols and all sorts of stuff that people who have been up there for 18 years look for and cant locate, I am quite thorough and seem to have difficulty getting lost.I look at things with a very unothodox analytical mind and get stuck in a lot of extreme situations where my friends dare not ride

One of the places i have suggested is a large hole 1.5 kays across and about a kay deep and about 10 kays long, there are no tracks and there has been no logging. It is the sort of area that if you were two feet off the track you are invisible AND IT IS ONLY 3 KMS EAST OF POLBLUE, If you follow the logic that most storms of this type blow from the south or west,like I experience at my farm then WHY WHY WHY are you looking around Brumlow top??? its not even anywhere near where a plane would be thrown

Just because a mosquito went that way in 1945? wrong bet! matey! much bigger wings and faster!
I read the cops searched around 25kay sw of Gloucester and The Mt Nelson trail nr Dungog, now even a shithead greeny would know that most of the mountain range 'meat' occurs way before this

If in the direction i think, it puts it about 5/6 kays south of the O'Hares.

BY the way ,have you ever met Dell O'Hare she is REAL, Nev mate, a strong woman, not prone to flights of fancy, Alpine cattlemen and woman are not prone to making stuff up her story shouldve been followed up by those clod 80's wallopers, have you ever seen where she lived its a misty place near cock rock , but living in those situations you rely on other senses like hearing
(back to police) Anyway I met one of the control radio stn coppers from the search George? something his name was.


I ride around both sides of polblue to go to the moonan flat pub from my farm 55 kays straight over my back fence and up and over a 5200 ft mtn range

Polblue is as flat as a pancake compared to the area im talkin about Willis, THE DEVILS HOLE, sure ive searched but only on the track, its a world of hurt in there!
and Im not gunna leave my 10k trail bike behind for the ranger to find!

I have had this feeling in my gut for at least 10 years

I believe the plane is there as it makes perfect logical sense to me

I think you need jetpacks!

Regards
Andrew

Robert Campbell

Hi! Nev, The info you have obtained is very interesting, if it's 100% accurate! I'm a pilot myself & have done chart work & distance/speed calculations using this info. Most of the reports are a bit confusing,(where mdx is at) but I've worked on the radar info & calculated a approximate position. Has any search that you know of been done east of Caven on the Buckets Way, on north Cabbage Tree Mtn? Also the voice recording between MDX & ACT isn't in order!

Hi Robert,Thanks for your email. I will have to get back to you about cabbage tree mountain. I will have to check on my charts for its location. I'm guessing the closest observation of the plane east of craven would be Wooton. Cant be sure without checking. In regards to the voice recording, Do you mean the transcript pages are not in order? Or the voice and transcript dont match?

Hi! MDX was at 5000ft over Craven heading East, but minutes before this it was descending @ 1500ft/min & I believe it still was after radar contact was lost! If you listen to the timing in the back ground of the recording, it shows the sequence of events are not in order!
Robert

Mark Nolan

Hi there.My name is Mark, and I have been following MDX for some time now. A bitabout me. I am in the Army, an experienced Pilot, bushwalker, hunter andgeneral outdoorsy kinda guy! I was googling MDX and came upon your blog.I spoke to Ray price some time ago, and he had a copy of a report into MDX,which included a signifigant amount of information relating to both thefinal hours and the subsequent search. It contained final radar data,transcripts and search sites. Reading your blog about the rather clever ideaabout state forest logging, I was wondering if you would be able to supplyme with any information you might have?I want to put together a proposal for an exercise at work for an activity,and try to incorporate a search for it. Any information you want to sharewould be greatly appreciated. I would also be interested in any futurewalks/search's that you conduct.Anyway, please feel free to email me back if you can or can't help.This has intrigued me for some time, and would like to assist in bringing itto a conclusion.Hope to hear from you soon.Mark

If anyone would like to assist Mark I'll pass his number on with his permission.

Nev

Reply to Michael Summers post

Hi! That latest blog sounds interesting, but he hasn't seen the Radar info showing disappearing over Craven & the ATC indicate that MDX is heading East towards the Coast or Williamtown. I'm heading up there next week to have a quick look.Rob Campbell

Questions and comments

To all fellow MDX followers, When i started this blog it was for the purpose of providing a reference point for other searchers or for anyone interested in a piece of aviation history. Apart from John Tonitto and his crew from Bushwalkers Wilderness Rescue I did'nt think there was anybody else out there. The emails I've been receiving have convinced me to place them up on the blog for others to read and debate if they wish. Any email will still come to me to be placed up on the blog to prevent any spam, flaming and defaming of any of our contributors. I will not change or alter any email except to hide emails, phone numbers and trash talk as i wish to promote discussion for ideas on the location of MDX. Down the track with time permitting i would like to put together a map showing the areas that have been searched by all parties past and present. I reckon everyone will be surprised with the amount and variety of areas covered which can only promote further discussion and ideas.

Your thoughts would be appreciated

You can contact me and leave your posts or suggestions at missingplane@gmail.com

The adventure continues.

Nev

P.S.
Unless specifically stated "not for publication" all relevant email will be placed up on the blog