TimNaples@TimNaples
On 14 April 1964, just after takeoff from Essendon, ANSETT-ANA DC-6B VH-INA (Flight AN216) lost the entire propeller assembly from its No. 3 engine at just 200 feet.
A blade broke off due to metal fatigue, causing the rest of the propeller to tear away and nearly rip the one-tonne engine from its mountings. Suddenly, the aircraft was experiencing severe drag, power loss, and a dangerous pull to one side, requiring immediate action from the crew.
Oil sprayed the fuselage as lines ruptured, and propeller debris rained down on North Essendon (one blade piercing a house roof, the others landing harmlessly in a backyard). Miraculously, no one on the ground was hurt. Captain Keith Hants and his crew, with 57 passengers on board, faced an aviator's test of skill and calm.
With the damaged engine barely hanging on, the DC-6B struggled to climb and just cleared the suburbs of Melbourne, heading out over Port Phillip Bay. The crew circled the bay, dumping fuel to lighten the plane for an emergency landing, while a second aircraft was dispatched to assess the damage from the air.
This was to consume and also dump fuel to reduce the aircraft’s weight before attempting the planned emergency landing back at Essendon, and to prepare for a possible ditching in the event of further complications. Fortunately, being an autumn weekday, the number of pleasure watercraft on the bay below the stricken airliner was minimal.
At 1.30 pm, the crew began jettisoning fuel over the bay. At 2 pm, DC-3 VH-ING took off from Essendon, with Captains John Blair & Peter Gibbes (the latter being the ANSETT-ANA Director of Operations), certain DCA personnel & ANSETT-ANA maintenance engineers. The DC-3 was flown alongside VH-INA to examine the damage.
Landing with the engine barely attached was too risky, so after tense manoeuvres, the crew managed to shake it free and drop it into the bay below. Lightened and finally safe, they returned to Essendon and landed without further incident (94 dramatic minutes after takeoff).
A cheering crowd welcomed the crew and passengers home, with even Reginald Ansett himself on the tarmac to congratulate them—a demonstration of calm professionalism and a little luck in the skies over Melbourne almost 62 years ago.

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