1940 Brocklesby mid - air collision On 29 September 1940 , a mid - air collision occurred over Brocklesby , New South Wales , Australia . The accident was unusual in that the aircraft involved , two Avro Anson s of No . 2 Service Flying Training School RAAF , remained locked together after colliding , and then managed to land safely . Both navigators and the pilot of the lower Anson bailed out after the aircraft struck . The pilot of the upper Anson , however , found that he was able to control the interlocked aircraft using his ailerons and flaps , coupled with the still - functioning engines on the machine underneath . He then made an emergency landing in a nearby paddock . All four crewmen survived the incident , and the upper Anson was repaired and returned to flight service . Training school and flight details . No . 2 Service Flying Training School ( No . 2 SFTS ) , based at RAAF Station Forest Hill near Wagga Wagga , New South Wales , was one of twenty new pilot training facilities formed during World War II as part of Australia ' s contribution to the Empire Air Training Scheme . Having undergone basic aeronautical instruction at an Elementary Flying Training School , pupils received further instruction at SFTS that focussed on techniques they would require as operational ( or " service " ) pilots , including instrument flying , night flying , cross - country navigation , advanced aerobatics , formation flying , dive bombing , and aerial gunnery . No . 2 SFTS ' s facilities were still under construction when its first course commenced with Avro Anson s on 29 July 1940 . On 29 September 1940 , two Ansons took off from the Forest Hill air base for a cross - country training exercise over southern New South Wales . Tail number N4876 was piloted by Leading Aircraftman Leonard Graham Fuller , 22 , from Cootamundra , with Leading Aircraftman Ian Menzies Sinclair , 27 , from Glen Innes , as navigator . Tail number L9162 was piloted by Leading Aircraftman Jack Inglis Hewson , 19 , from Newcastle , with Leading Aircraftman Hugh Gavin Fraser , 27 , from Melbourne , as navigator . Their planned route was expected to take them first to Corowa , then to Narrandera , and finally back to Forest Hill . Collision and emergency landing . The Ansons were at an altitude of over the township of Brocklesby , near Albury , when they made a banking turn . Fuller lost sight of Hewson ' s aircraft beneath him and the two Ansons collided amid a " grinding crunch of metal and tearing of fabric " . They remained jammed together , the lower Anson ' s turret wedged into the other plane ' s port wing root , and its fin and rudder balancing the upper Anson ' s port tailplane . Both of the upper aircraft ' s engines had been knocked out in the collision but those of the one below continued to turn at full power as the interlocked Ansons began to slowly circle . Fuller described the " freak combination " as " lumping along like a brick " . Nevertheless , he found that he was able to control the piggybacking pair of aircraft with his ailerons and flaps , and began searching for a place to land . The two navigators , Sinclair and Fraser , bailed out , followed soon after by the lower Anson ' s pilot , Hewson , whose back had been injured when the propeller of the other plane sliced through his fuselage . Having travelled five miles ( eight kilometres ) since the collision , Fuller successfully made an emergency ' pancake ' landing in a large paddock four miles south - west of Brocklesby , coming to rest after sliding some across the grass . As far as Fuller was concerned , the touchdown was better than any he had made when practising ' circuits and bumps ' at Forest Hill airfield the previous day . His acting commanding officer , Squadron Leader Cooper , declared the choice of improvised runway " perfect " , and the landing itself as a " wonderful effort " . The RAAF ' s Inspector of Air Accidents , Group Captain Arthur " Spud " Murphy was quickly on the scene , along with his deputy Henry Winneke . Fuller told Murphy : Aftermath . The " freak flying experience " garnered news coverage around the world , and put Brocklesby " on the map " . By preventing the Ansons from crashing , Fuller was credited not only with sparing Brocklesby possible destruction , but also with saving approximately £ 40 , 000 worth of military hardware . Both aircraft were repaired , the top plane ( N4876 ) returning to flight service , and the lower ( L9162 ) being used as an instructional airframe . Hewson was treated for his back injury at Albury District Hospital and returned to active duty , graduating from No . 2 SFTS in October 1940 . He was discharged from the Air Force as a flight lieutenant in 1946 . Sinclair was discharged in 1945 , also a flight lieutenant . Fraser was posted to Britain and flew as a pilot officer with No . 206 Squadron RAF , based in Aldergrove , Northern Ireland . He and his crew of three died on 1 January 1942 during a routine training flight , when their Lockheed Hudson collided with a tree . Fuller was promoted to sergeant after his successful landing , but also confined to barracks for fourteen days , reportedly for speaking about the incident to the newspapers without authorisation . Graduating from No . 2 SFTS in October 1940 , he went on to serve first in the Middle East , and then in Europe with No . 37 Squadron RAF , earning the Distinguished Flying Medal for his actions over Palermo , Italy , in 1942 . He was commissioned soon after receiving the award , and subsequently posted back to Australia as a flying officer , becoming an instructor at No . 1 Operational Training Unit in Sale , Victoria . Fuller died near Sale on 18 March 1944 , when the bicycle he was riding collided with a bus . On 26 January 2007 , a memorial to the 1940 collision , featuring an Avro Anson engine , was opened during Brocklesby ' s Australia Day celebrations .