Date:	Sunday 5 January 1930
Time:	dusk
Type:	de Havilland DH.60 Moth
Owner/operator:	1 Sqn RAAF
Registration:	A7-10
MSN:	543
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	1.5 km from RAAF Laverton, VIC -   Australia
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAAF Point Cook, Victoria (YMPC)
Destination airport:	RAAF Laverton, Victoria
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
c/no.543 DH.60X [Cirrus II]: to De Havilland Australia with C of A 1375 issued 18.4.28. To RAAF as A7-10. To 1 Squadron, RAAF Laverton by 30.7.28

Written off (destroyed) 5.1.30: Crashed about 1,500 meters from the RAAF Laverton airbase, after striking a haystack and shearing off the undercarriage, while performing a flight at low level without authorization. The aircraft crashed a short distance from the haystack, and was destroyed. The pilot, Flying Officer Leo J. Ryan, the sole person on board, survived the impact but was critically injured. He later died of those injuries in Caulfield Repatriation Hospital two days later.

As reported in a contemporary newspaper (The Age (Melbourne, Vic.) Tuesday 7 Jan 1930 Page 9 - see link #1)

ANOTHER AVIATION ACCIDENT.
AEROPLANE HITS HAY STACK.
FLYING OFFICER SERIOUSLY INJURED.
While flying from Point Cook to Laverton on Sunday afternoon, Flying Officer Leo Joseph Ryan, of No. 1 Flying Squadron, R.A.A.F., Laverton, collided with a hay stack. The undercarriage was torn off the machine, which was a Moth plane, and the body of the machine was carried by its own momentum for a distance of 30 yards from the point of impact.

Ryan was admitted to Caulfield Military Hospital on Sunday night suffering from a fractured skull and broken ribs. Ryan, who is a native of New South Wales, is 24 years of age.

The air accidents committee of the air force is conducting an inquiry into the mishap".

A later report (Werribee Shire Banner (Werribee, Vic.) Thursday 9 January 1930 Page 6 - see link #2) adds:

"Ryan was admitted to the Caulfield Military Hospital in a critical condition and succumbed to his injuries on Tuesday. A Court of Inquiry on the crash is being held".

1. The Age (Melbourne, Vic.) Tuesday 7 Jan 1930 Page 9 ANOTHER AVIATION ACCIDENT: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/203106667
2. Werribee Shire Banner (Werribee, Vic.) Thursday 9 January 1930 Page 6 PLANE CRASH AT LAVERTON: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/74050786
3. The Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney NSW) Friday 10 January 1930 Page 12 FLYING-OFFICER RYAN: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/16616550 (Report if Pilot's Funeral)
4. http://www.ab-ix.co.uk/dh60.pdf
5. http://www.adf-gallery.com.au//2a7.shtml
6. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-de-havilland-dh60-moth-laverton-1-killed
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAAF_Williams#RAAF_Base_Point_Cook
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAAF_Williams#RAAF_Williams,_Laverton

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
27-Sep-2008 01:00	ASN archive	Added
11-Dec-2011 08:50	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Cn, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Source, Damage, Narrative]
30-Aug-2017 18:18	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Source, Narrative]
01-Nov-2018 16:19	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Operator]
14-Jan-2019 13:33	Sergey L.	Updated [Source]
09-Jun-2022 23:19	Ron Averes	Updated [Location]
12-Dec-2023 18:54	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Category]
13-Dec-2023 09:58	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Departure airport, Narrative]