Looking back at November 8, 1950
A search was under way for two Mustang pilots who crashed into the sea off Shellharbour the day before.
The crash occurred about 1.6 kilometres off the coast during a military exercise involving 10 planes from the Williamtown base near Newcastle.
The search the day before had discovered pieces of the wreckage, a parachute and rubber dinghy but no sign of the missing pilots.
Navy and RAAF planes were involved in the search, as was a submarine and even local fishing boats.
Bus conductor Tessie Patterson said he saw one of the pilots parachute from the plane, while another witness said they saw a man bobbing up and down in the water more than a kilometre offshore for about five minutes.
The body of one of the pilots - both of whom were from Queensland - would wash ashore 10 days later at Windang where it was found by a pensioner.
The body of the other pilot was never found.
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Glen Humphries
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
