Mascot’s miracle: the 1971 airline collision that nearly took 240 lives

A talk by Dr. Peter Hobbins

When: Saturday 23 November 10.15 for 10.30 start

Where: Herb Greedy Hall, 79 Petersham Road, Marrickville

On the evening of 29 January 1971 “a tragedy of immense proportions was only very narrowly avoided” at Kingsford Smith Airport in Mascot. A Trans-Australia Airways Boeing 727 and CP (Canadian Pacific) Air McDonnell Douglas DC-8 came within 3 metres of a major impact that threatened the lives of all 240 people aboard the two aircraft.

Exhibition at TAA Museum. Image: Peter Hobbins on X (formerly known as Twitter)

How did this happen at Australia’s largest airport and who was to blame? What might have been the consequences for local residents?

Dr Peter Hobbins leads the curatorial, library and publications teams at the Australian National Maritime Museum. He is a historian of science, technology and medicine who studies calamities such as pandemics, shipwrecks and aircraft accidents.

Peter is also a passionate advocate for community history, jointly winning Bayside Council’s 2023 Ron Rathbone Local History Competition with his account of the 1971 airliner collision.