Family of the Hugo Gramp, who perished in the Kyeema crash, 25th October 1938, at the memorial plaque unveiled on the 40th anniversary of the disaster. L - R Mervyn Gramp, Colin Gramp, Enid Schultz, Fiona Nettlebeck. air crash, kyeema, hugo gramp, mervyn gramp, fiona nettlebeck, colin gramp, enid schultz, cairn, mt dandenong

Mrs Sybil Gramp, daughter-in-law of passenger Hugo Gramp, unveils the cairn's memorial plaque on the accident's 40th anniversary in 1978. Sybil Gramp was also a grand-daughter of one of the other victims, Mrs Elizabeth Schrader.air crash, kyeema, sybil gramp, hugo gramp, elizabeth schrader, cairn, mt dandenong

The cairn commemorating the Kyeema aircraft disaster with the addition of a smaller plaque listing the names of those who perished in the accident. This additional plaque was suggested by relatives of the victims who had attended earlier commemorations of the accident at the site. Mt Dandenong & District Historical Society members observed a minute's silence and drank a toast of South Australian wine, produced by vineyards with which some of the victims were associated, in memory of all those who lost their lives. The plaque reads: KYEEMA VH-UYC CREW AND PASSENGERS CAPTAIN ALFRED WEBB JUNIOR CAPTAIN ALLAN STEEN AIR HOSTESS ALVA JONES CADET PILOT PHILIP PRING LEONARD ABRAHAMS K.C. ALFRED GAIN HANS GLOE STELLA GLOE GORDON GODDARD HUGO GRAMP THOMAS HARDY CHARLES HAWKER M.H.R. GEORGE LING JAMES MASSIE VAUGHAN PATE ELIZABETH SCHRADER LANCELOT SHIRLEY SIDNEY HILL SMITHkyeema, air crash, mt dandenong, cairn, plaque, captain alfred webb, allan steen, elva jones, philip pring, leonard abrahams, alfred gain, hans gloe, stella gloe, gordon goddard, hugo gramp, thomas hardy, george ling, charles hawker, james massie, vaughan pate, elizabeth schrader, lancelot shirley, sidney hill smith

The Kyeema airline crash took place on 25 October 1938 when the Australian National Airways Douglas DC-2 Kyeema, tail number VH-UYC, flying from Adelaide to Melbourne, commenced final approach to Essendon Airport through heavy fog and crashed into the western slopes of Mount Dandenong, killing all 18 on board instantly. There is strong evidence that the pilots were becoming unsure of their position. According to Macarthur Job's book, Disaster in the Dandenongs, the radio operator had requested the controller at Essendon give them a radio bearing. Essendon had acknowledged and told them to leave their transmitter on, but the signal stopped and no further contact was made. It is thought that this is the moment that Kyeema hit the mountain. There were 18 people on board the DC-2: 14 passengers, the captain, the first officer, an air hostess, and a cadet pilot who operated the radio during the flight. The victims were :— THE CREW. CAPTAIN A. C. D. WEBB, 32, pilot, married, of Essendon, Victoria. JUNIOR CAPTAIN ALAN J. STEEN, 25, pilot, married, of Essendon North, Victoria. ELVA JONES, 27, air hostess, single, of Toorak, Victoria. PHILIP D. PRING, about 20, cadet pilot attached to Australian National Airways' Aeronautics School, Sydney. PASSENGERS. CHARLES ALLAN SEYMOUR HAWKER, M.P., 44, single, of Adelaide. LEONARD SYDNEY ABRAHAMS, K.C., 51, married, barrister, of Sydney. SIDNEY HILL SMITH, 41, married, managing director of S. Smith and Son, of Yalumba, South Australia. ALFRED CECIL GAIN, 42, married, barrister, of Sydney. GORDON H. GODDARD, 30, single, accountant, of North Sydney. LANCELOT WILLIAM SHIRLEY, 27, single, solicitor, of Manly. JAMES IAN MASSIE, 25, single, solicitor, of Sydney. VAUGHAN PATE, 42, refrigeration cabinet manufacturer, married, of Unley, South Australia. THOMAS M. HARDY, 48, married, head of the firm of Thomas Hardy and Sons, vignerons, of Seacliff, South Australia. GEORGE WILLIAM LING, 72, of Kingswood, South Australia, former building inspector of the Municipal Tramways Trust, Adelaide. LOUIS HUGO GRAMP, 43, married, managing director of G. Gramp and Sons, Ltd., vignerons, Rowlands (sic) Flat, South Australia. Mrs. ELIZABETH MARY SCHRADER, 69, widow, of Adelaide. Mr. and Mrs. HANS L. GLOE, of Perth.Small section of the Kyeema DC-2 fuselage made up of 5 pieces of piece of twisted and torn aluminium riveted together. Marking can be seen in red but is indistinct. Aluminium has gold, silver and green colouring.kyeema, a webb, j steen, elva jones, philip pring, charles hawker, leonard abrahams, sidney hill smith, alfred gain, gordon goddard, lancelot shirley, james massie, vaughan pate, thomas hardy, george ling, hugo gramp, elizabeth schrader, mr hans gloe, mrs gloe