The Plane with the Wildest Most Unusual Event

It was one of the most bizarre and dramatic accidents in aviation history. On September 29, 1940, over Brockelsby, Australia, two Avro Anson training planes collided mid-air while banking at an altitude of just 1,000 feet. The aircraft locked together, metal gripping metal, as they began to fall.

The crew of the lower plane quickly bailed out, except for pilot Jack Hewson. Refusing to give up, he pushed Anson’s engines to full power, fighting to keep both aircraft in the air. Nicknamed “Faithful Annie” for its reliability, the humble wooden Anson was about to face its greatest test. Above, pilot Leonard Fuller found himself in an unbelievable situation: flying a warplane with another one stuck underneath. What happened next would go down as one of aviation’s most incredible survival stories.

The aviation accident that made Brocklesby famous happened on September 29, 1940. At that time, the Royal Australian Air Force had a Flying Training School at Forest Hill near Wagga Wagga. The school was part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP), also called the Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS). This program was a joint effort by the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand to train aircrews for World War II.

The BCATP trained nearly half of all the pilots, navigators, bomb aimers, gunners, radio operators, and flight engineers who served in the war. It remains one of the largest aviation training programs in history. Forest Hill was a new air base, and many roads and buildings were still being built when training began in the summer of 1940. The school used British-made twin-engine Avro Anson aircraft for its first flying courses.

On September 29, 1940, two of these Ansons took off from Forest Hill for a cross-country training flight over southern New South Wales. Aircraft N4876 was flown by 22-year-old Leonard Graham Fuller from Cootamundra, with Ian Menzies Sinclair as his navigator. The second plane, L9162, was piloted by 19-year-old Jack Inglis Hewson, with Hugh Gavin Fraser as his navigator. Their route took them from Forest Hill to Corowa, then to Narrandera, and finally back to base.

The two Avro Ansons were flying low over the town of Brocklesby, at about 1,000 feet, when they began a banking turn. Hewson’s aircraft was following behind Fuller’s, but during the turn, it slipped out of sight and underneath the other plane. Moments later, the two aircraft collided. The propellers of Fuller’s Anson ripped into Hewson’s engines, knocking both of Fuller’s engines off completely. Hewson’s plane still had power, but with Fuller’s aircraft sitting on top of it, he couldn’t break free. The two Ansons were now locked together-one stacked on the other.

The crews couldn’t jump right away, as doing so would send the tangled planes crashing into the town below. They had to somehow steer the wreckage away from Brocklesby. At first, it seemed that Hewson, with a working engine, might be able to control the pair. But he was injured when the spinning blades from Fuller’s aircraft cut through his fuselage. Then, by some miracle, Fuller realized he could still control both planes using the ailerons and flaps of his upper aircraft.

Seeing a chance to save them all, Fuller ordered the others to bail out. He then flew the strange, combined aircraft, using the lower plane’s engine for thrust and his own controls to keep them steady. He headed back toward the base, but the planes grew harder to manage as the lower engine began to fail. After flying about 8 kilometers, Fuller brought the interlocked aircraft down safely in a large open field. They skidded 180 meters before stopping. Fuller later joked that it was the best landing he ever made.

The incredible event made headlines around the world and brought sudden fame to the small town of Brocklesby. Fuller was praised for his quick thinking and bravery, choosing not to bail out, he managed to land the tangled planes safely, preventing damage to the town and saving both aircraft. Remarkably, the two Ansons were later repaired and returned to service.

Fuller was promoted for his actions, but his newfound fame came with a downside. After speaking to the press without official permission, his superiors punished him with 14 days of confinement to barracks and a deduction of seven days’ pay.

Two memorials in Brocklesby commemorate the famous crash. The first is a historic marker placed at the landing site in 1990 to mark the 50th anniversary of the event. The second is an Avro Anson engine, purchased from a collector and unveiled in 2007 during Brocklesby’s Australia Day celebrations.