Lorn Campbell in 1953, aged 18
Source: Sharyn Campbell
- Suzanne - born 1957
- Karen - born 1958
- Fiona - born 1961
On 12 December 1960, a plane carrying Lorn Campell and 2 others on a training flight crashed into the ocean off Sydney, killing all 3 men.
Newspaper clipping, 1960
1960 - SEATS, BOX FOUND 13 MILES OFF COAST AIRCRAFT DEBRIS FLOATING IN SEA
SYDNEY, Tuesday.—Eight aircraft seats and a first aid box from a missing DC3 airliner were among wreckage found drifting 13 miles east of Sydney Harbour's South Head to-day.
The DC3, operated by Airlines of N.S.W., crashed into the sea off Sydney yesterday with the loss of three lives. A Navy destroyer to-day found the seat and box, later identified as belonging to the missing plane, amid numerous small pieces of wreckage. An aircraft later reported sighting a long piece of fuselage about three miles away. Volunteer coastal patrol ships will continue the search to-morrow.
A D.C.A. spokesman said to-night wreckage found today did not suggest the cause of the crash. But he said wreckage found proved the airliner did not explode.
To-day's search covered nearly 10,550 square miles of sea and involved seven aircraft, two ships, the police launch Nemesis and a submarine.
Training Flight
The plane carrying the flight captain, Captain Raymond Thomas, 36, married with three children, of Parsonage Road, Castle Hill; First Officer Graeme Thom, 22, single, of Adelaide Avenue, East Lindfield, and First Officer Lorn Campbell, 25, married, of Bayley Street, Gulgong, left Mascot Airport at 1.57 p.m. on a two-hour training flight yesterday.
Serial numbers on parts of the recovered wreckage were those of the missing plane. The R.A.N, destroyer Voyager picked up the seats and first aid kit shortly before 8 a.m. The parts of the plane were
picked up on the outside of the training area in which the plane was flying.
Beach Search
Beaches on the northern side of Sydney Harbour were searched by a number of police cars when it was reported that a yellow box was sighted only half a mile off the coast. An oil slick and what appeared to be the rudder of the plane were reported by another searching aircraft.
Mascot airport officials said today that the seats were brought to the surface by the sponge padding inside the covering.
The police launch Nemesis, with Voyager and seven aircraft, started to search the area at dawn to-day. The British submarine Anchorite also joined the search. The Department of Civil Aviation had organised a wide search of the area by a Super Constellation, a DC4, a DC3, a flying boat and a DCA Cessna, but all were withdrawn when reports of the wreckage were received.
The two Airlines of N.S.W. DC3s have been instructed to make low-level sweeps. A DCA spokesman said many parts of the plane float to the surface. "The water in this part of the ocean is about 420 feet
deep and so far no traces of bodies or clothing have been found.
Plaque at Gulgong Cemetery*
Source: Austcemindex
