All documents related to an incident involving a Cessna 210M, VH-MDX, near Barrington Tops, NSW, 9 August 1981

Written by Claude Haiku 5.5 from the extracted text on 23 Oct 2026. It can miss or misread redacted and scanned pages. Check the source before relying on it.

This release contains two documents concerning the Cessna 210M VH-MDX, which disappeared near the Barrington Tops, NSW, on 9 August 1981 with four passengers and the pilot, all presumed fatal. The first is the 1983 aircraft accident investigation summary report (reference SI/812/1036), covering the flight from Proserpine via Coolangatta towards Bankstown, the pilot's decision to fly under night VMC procedures despite lacking de-icing equipment, and his attempt to avoid military restricted areas near Williamtown. The report records the aircraft entering cloud at 1924 hours, loss of primary flight instruments, radar identification at 1928 hours, and last contact at 1939 hours at 5,000 feet. Probable factors were severe turbulence, icing and instrument failure, but the cause was not determined, and no wreckage was found. The second document is a 2026 internal email on records searches, noting that the investigation file is untraceable and that archived copies exist at the National Archives of Australia. No safety recommendations are recorded.