Out of the Blue?

Out of the blue? How aviation accidents shaped safer skies

Centred on accidents in the vicinity of Sydney’s Mascot Aerodrome, this movie outlines developments in Australian aviation safety from the 1920s to the 1970s. It combines original research, interviews, archival footage and graphic simulations of civilian and military accidents. Presented by historian Dr Peter Hobbins and produced by Steven Pam, it features the collections of Melbourne’s Airways Museum.

A Smartshots production

Writer and presenter: Dr Peter Hobbins

Film research: Maurice Austin

Script consultants: Roger Meyer and Phil Vabre

Image credits: Roger McDonald, Joy Lai, Noble Numismatics, National Archives of Australia, Netherlands National Archives, Australian Transport and Safety Bureau, and Civil Aviation Historical Society/Airways Museum

Animation: FlightSimGlobal

Animators: Dexter Pun and Jeroen Doorman

Producer and camera: Steven Pam

Director: Steven Pam

With thanks to the Civil Aviation Historical Society

Filmed on location at the Airways Museum, Essendon Airport, Melbourne, Australia

Produced as part of the Heritage of the Air research project.

This research was fully supported by the Australian Government through the Australian Research Council’s Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (project DE160101173) and Linkage Project (LP160101232) funding schemes. The views expressed herein are those of the author and are not necessarily those of the Australian Government or Australian Research Council.