Valentich, Frederick, Disappearance of

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Frederick "Fred" Valentich was a Victorian pilot who disappeared on Saturday, 21 October 1978 (AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION SUMMARY REPORT 9). He had been flying a Cessna 182 light aircraft over the Bass Strait, having departed from Moorabbin, Victoria[1] at 18:19 AEDT[2] (AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION SUMMARY REPORT 9). Valentich's intended destination had been King Island[3], located approximately 236.47 kilometers (146.93 miles) apart[4].

Valentich was 20 years old and had obtained a Class Four instrument rating on 11 May 1978, authorizing him to operate at night in visual meteorological conditions[5] (VMC). On the afternoon of 21 October 1978, he attended the Moorabbin Briefing Office, obtained a meteorological briefing, and at 17:53, submitted a flight plan for a night VMC flight (AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION SUMMARY REPORT 9).

The flight plan included a cruising altitude below 5,000 feet, with estimated time intervals of 41 minutes to Cape Otway and 28 minutes from Cape Otway to King Island (a total of 69 minutes, or one hour and 9 minutes) (AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION SUMMARY REPORT 9). The fuel endurance shown was 300 minutes, more than twice the estimated total duration. No arrangements were made for aerodrome lighting to be illuminated for his arrival at King Island. Valentich advised the briefing office and the operator's representative that he was uplifting friends at King Island (and therefore he took four life jackets into the aircraft with him) (AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION SUMMARY REPORT 9).

The aircraft was refueled to capacity at 18:10 and departed Moorabbin nine minutes later. Following Valentich's departure, he established two-way radio communications with the Melbourne Flight Service Unit (FSU).

Valentich reported Cape Otway at 19:00 and the last time any transmission was received from the aircraft was at 19:06:14. The transcript was as follows:

Time From Text
19:06:14 VH-DSJ[6] DELTA SIERRA JULIET // open microphone for 5 seconds // It's just vanished
19:06:23 FSU[7] DELTA SIERRA JULIET
19:11:03 VH-DSJ MELBOURNE would you know what kind of aircraft I've got is it (a type) military aircraft
19:11:08 FSU DELTA SIERRA JULIET confirm the er aircraft just vanished
19:11:14 VH-DSJ SAY AGAIN
19:11:17 FSU DELTA SIERRA JULIET is the aircraft still with you
19:11:23 VH-DSJ DELTA SIERRA JULIET (it's ah nor) // open microphone 2 seconds // (now) approaching from the southwest
19:11:37 FSU DELTA SIERRA JULIET
19:11:52 VH-DSJ DELTA SIERRA JULIET the engine is is rough idling I've got it set at twenty three twenty four and the thing is (coughing)
19:12:04 FSU DELTA SIERRA JULIET roger what are your intentions
19:12:09 VH-DSJ my intentions are ah to go to King Island ah Melbourne that strange aircraft is hovering on top of me again // two seconds open microphone // it is hovering and it's not aircraft
19:12:22 FSU DELTA SIERRA JULIET
19:12:28 VH-DSJ DELTA SIERRA JULIET MELBOURNE // 17 seconds open microphone
19:12:49 FSU DELTA SIERRA JULIET MELBOURNE

There was no further transmission from Valentich's aircraft. The weather in the Cape Otway area was recorded as clear with a trace of stratocumulus cloud at 5,000 to 7,000 ft., scattered cirrus cloud at 30,000 ft., excellent visibility and light winds. Sunset occurred at 19:18, that night at Cape Otway (AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION SUMMARY REPORT 9).

The Alert Phase of SAR[8] procedures had been declared at 19:12 and, at 19:33 when Valentich did not arrive at King Island, the Distress Phase was declared and search action commenced. A joint air, sea, and land search continued from then until 25 October 1978, after which no trace of the aircraft was found (AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION SUMMARY REPORT 9).

Background

Frederick Valentich was born on 9 June 1958 (AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION SUMMARY REPORT 51, 87) in Melbourne[9].

Valentich attended Keilor Heights High School in Melbourne, Australia, but left school at the end of Form 4 in 1974 at the age of 16 (AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION SUMMARY REPORT 87). His Form 4 scores were as follows:

  • "Excellent" - Physical Education
  • "Above Average" -
  • "Average" - Italian, History, Metal Work
  • "Below Average" - Geography, English, Science, Graphics
  • "Fail" - Maths A, Maths B

In 1975, he was believed to have been studying for his leaving certificate[10] (AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION SUMMARY REPORT 87).

Valentich likely continued this study in 1976, when he also applied to the RAAF. His RAAF test results indicated "very low scores, indicative low I.Q. fit for unskilled work only" (AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION SUMMARY REPORT 87).

In 1977, Valentich enrolled in RMIT University[11], but withdrew in July of the same year (AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION SUMMARY REPORT 87).

CONTINUE 1977 TO 1978.

A user, Ramjet555[12], claimed the following at 17:09[13] on 30 October 2013[14]:

I did a duel flight with Fred Valentich shortly before his fatal flight.

Valentich was so obviously an accident going to happen that I refused to do duel with him or rent him an aircraft.

None of the investigators bothered to speak to me either and with respect, that could be because he never logged the flight or his log book disappeared.


Investigators have a nasty habit of not wishing to talk to anyone who might have evidence that does not agree with their preformed conclusions that are often churned out as "investigations".

Search and Rescue

The SAR alert was, as mentioned previously, given at 19:12.

Following the Distress Phrase (at 19:33), search efforts for both Valentich and his aircraft began (AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION SUMMARY REPORT 9). Two RAAF[15] P-3 Orion aircraft were deployed over the search area. A Department of Transport spokesman confirmed that the search failed to find any sign of the plane's wreckage (AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION SUMMARY REPORT 228).

A subsequent Air Safety Incident Report, filed at 19:12 on 21 October 1978, noted that the first search aircraft departed King Island for a land search at 10:01 on 20 October 1978. The search is noted to have continued from then until 09:00 on 25 October 1978 (AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION SUMMARY REPORT 182).

Weather conditions were reported as excellent during the duration of the search, with little or no cloud, light winds, and a calm sea. The first aircraft from King Island reported seeing the Cape Otway light when still south of Cape Wickham at 3,000 ft., meaning a visibility of about 60 nautical miles (AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION SUMMARY REPORT 182-3).

Despite this, two major problems were cited by the report: (1) search time was lost by the optimum aircraft, the Orion, in directing a surface vessel to the position of possible oil slick and debris for retrieval; and (2) when light aircraft, without integral navigation systems, found possible debris when out of sight of land they had to climb to fix position and in doing so they lost sight of the debris (AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION SUMMARY REPORT 183).

The report was signed "P. Barnett".

Investigation

Notes

  1. IATA code MBW, obtained via IATA code search.
  2. (Australian) Eastern Daylight Time, EDT; synonymous with UTC+11. Observed in New South Wales, the ACT, Victoria, and Tasmania.
  3. IATA code KNS, IATA code search.
  4. Found via World Airport Codes, the exact page located here. According to the aforementioned site (as of 5 July 2016), this distance would take a Boeing 747 16 minutes to traverse, a Gulfstream 550 17 minutes to traverse, a Cessna SkyHawk an hour and 2 minutes to traverse, and a Bell 206L-4 an hour and 9 minutes to traverse. Valentich's plane, a Cessna 182L would have been most comparable to a Cessna SkyHawk. Performance data for the Cessna 182L is as follows, as obtained from WhatToFly.com:
    Cessna 182L Bell 206L3 (206L-4 unavailable) Cessna SkyHawk Gulfstream 450 (550 unavailable) Boeing 747(-100)
    Cruise speed (knots) 138 110 124 N/A 490
    Stall speed (knots) 48 N/A 48 N/A N/A
    Range in nautical miles 803 305 517 N/A 6,900
    Service ceiling (feet) 14,900 20,000 14,000 N/A N/A
    Rate of climb (feet per minute) 980 1,340 720 N/A N/A
    Take over 50 foot obstacle (feet) 1,205 2 N/A N/A N/A
    Landing over 50 foot obstacle (feet) 1,350 N/A N/A N/A N/A
    Average empty weight (pounds) 1,625 2,225 1,665 N/A 358,000
    Gross weight (pounds) 2,800 4,150 2,550 N/A 750,000
    Fuel regular (gallons) 65 N/A N/A N/A N/A
    Fuel max (gallons) 92 110 53 N/A N/A
    Take off normal (feet) 625 N/A 960 N/A N/A
    Landing normal (feet) 590 N/A 575 N/A N/A
  5. From Skybrary, conditions expressed in terms of visibility, distance from cloud, and ceiling equal to or better than specified minima. Specified in ICAO Annex 2, these minima are:
    • Above 3,000 ft. or 1,000 ft. above terrain (whichever is higher):
      • 1500 m horizontally and 1,000 ft. vertically from cloud.
      • Flight visibility 5 km below 10,000 ft. and 8 km above 10,000 ft.
    • Below 3,000 ft. or 1,000 ft. above terrain (whichever is higher):
      • Clear of cloud and in sight of the surface.
      • Flight visibility 5 km.
  6. The registration for Valentich's Cessna 182L.
  7. Flight Service Unit, Melbourne.
  8. SAR (Search And Rescue) refers to three phases (Uncertainty, Alert, and Distress) in which the status of the flight is meant to be ascertained so that if the flight is experiencing an emergency situation, immediate assistance can be given.
  9. This is reported here, but not substantiated.
  10. A document signifying that the holder has fulfilled any secondary education requirements of their locality (the equivalent of a high school diploma).
  11. Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology; Valentich enrolled in "electronics, maths physics" (AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION SUMMARY REPORT 87).
  12. A user with the same user name on a different board (located here), indicated that his name was Roger Townsend. A personal website is available here. Whether or not this is who made the comment, or whether the given comment is true, have yet to be determined.
  13. Eastern Standard Time (EST).
  14. Located here.
  15. Royal Australian Air Force.

External Links

References

  • AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION SUMMARY REPORT. Rep. no. V116/783/1047. Beaumauris: Department of Transportation, Com­monwealth of Australia, 1982. Print.