24/07/2015
On Sunday 24 April 1994, at about 0910 EST, Douglas DC-3 aircraft VH-EDC took off from runway 16 at Sydney (Kingsford-Smith) Airport. The crew reported an engine malfunction during the initial climb and subsequently ditched the aircraft into Botany Bay. The DC-3 was on a charter flight to convey a group of college students and their band equipment from Sydney to Norfolk Island and return as part of Anzac Day celebrations on the island. All 25 occupants, including the four crew, successfully evacuated the aircraft before it sank.
(Bureau of Air Safety Investigation (BASI), PO Box 967, Civic Square ACT 2608 Investigation Report 9401043)
The recovery mission included placing air bags around the aircraft and floating it towards the 3rd runway which was under construction at that time.
The crane crew believe that this was the very first plane to land on the new runway.
