Australian Dictionary of Biography

  • Tip: searches only the name field
  • Tip: Use double quotes to search for a phrase

Cultural Advice

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this website contains names, images, and voices of deceased persons.

In addition, some articles contain terms or views that were acceptable within mainstream Australian culture in the period in which they were written, but may no longer be considered appropriate.

These articles do not necessarily reflect the views of The Australian National University.

Older articles are being reviewed with a view to bringing them into line with contemporary values but the original text will remain available for historical context.

Aileen Margaret Keldie (1936–1961)

by Margaret Robinson

This article was published:

Aileen Margaret Keldie (1936-1961), air hostess, was born on 16 September 1936 at Merewether, Newcastle, New South Wales, younger child and only daughter of native-born parents David Keldie, government valuer, and his wife Aileen Ethel Maude, née Hill. The family moved to Sydney in 1938. Educated at Mosman Public School and Sydney Church of England Grammar School for Girls (Redlands), Cremorne, Aileen proved an excellent student. She obtained employment with the O'Connell Street branch of the Bank of New South Wales where she worked as a machiniste on statements and ledgers.

In 1957 Miss Keldie joined Ansett-ANA as an air hostess. Her initial ground-training took place in Melbourne and she was then based in Sydney where she was promoted to trainer hostess. She was a pleasant woman, quiet, calm and capable. Interested in and committed to her job, she was regarded as conscientious and reliable. As a trainer, she was patient and considerate towards her charges; they liked and admired her.

On 30 November 1961 Keldie was rostered with her trainee Elizabeth Hardy (who had been flying for only three weeks) on Flight 325, due to leave Sydney for Canberra at 7.10 p.m. Throughout a blustery, turbulent day, the weather steadily deteriorated, bringing heavy rain, strong wind, lightning and severe thunderstorms. The aircraft, a Viscount 720, registration VH-TVC, departed at 7.17 p.m., with eleven passengers (ten men and one woman) and four crew members on board. Although its pilots twice communicated with the Sydney control tower immediately after take-off, they failed to respond to radio transmissions from 7.25 p.m. The aeroplane's estimated arrival time in Canberra was 8.05 that night. When the Viscount had not arrived by 8.50, it was posted as missing and 'the Distress Phase of Search and Rescue' was initiated in Sydney.

A full search mounted at dawn on 1 December established that the aircraft had crashed in Botany Bay. Over the next five days divers recovered much of the wreckage and a number of bodies. Investigations showed that the Viscount's starboard outer wing and starboard tailplane had separated from the aircraft in flight and fallen into the sea. The rest of the airliner had virtually disintegrated when it hit the water at some 350 miles (563 km) per hour, about 7.26 p.m. Lacking precise evidence as to what had caused VH-TVC to break up in the air, investigators concluded that the aircraft was subjected to extraordinary levels of stress occasioned by severe turbulence that arose from the abnormally violent weather conditions.

Following a funeral service at Scots Kirk, Mosman, Keldie was cremated with Presbyterian forms; her family was devastated by her death. A board of inquiry into the accident handed down its findings in 1962. All Australian airliners were required to be fitted with weather radar by 1 June 1963.

Select Bibliography

  • M. Job, Air Crash, vol 2 (Canb, 1992)
  • Parliamentary Papers (Commonwealth), 1962-63, 5, p 557
  • Advertiser (Adelaide), 1, 2 Dec 1961
  • Sydney Morning Herald, 1, 2 Dec 1961
  • Sun-Herald (Sydney), 3 Dec 1961
  • private information.

Citation details

Margaret Robinson, 'Keldie, Aileen Margaret (1936–1961)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/keldie-aileen-margaret-10669/text18963, published first in hardcopy 1996, accessed online 4 December 2024.

This article was published in hardcopy in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 14, (Melbourne University Press), 1996

View the front pages for Volume 14

© Copyright Australian Dictionary of Biography, 2006-2024

Life Summary [details]

Birth

16 September, 1936
Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia

Death

30 November, 1961 (aged 25)
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Religious Influence

Includes the religion in which subjects were raised, have chosen themselves, attendance at religious schools and/or religious funeral rites; Atheism and Agnosticism have been included.

Occupation or Descriptor