THE spiritual home of Waltzing Matilda, Winton, has commemorated the 60th anniversary of one of Australia’s worst ever aviation disasters, which left bodies “sizzled up”, according to one man who was at the crash site within minutes and all these years later, remains haunted by the tragedy.
It was September 22 1966 when Ansett ANA Flight 149 was heading from Mount Isa to Brisbane via Longreach. About 45 minutes into the flight, one of the engines belonging to the Vickers Viscount was on fire and the doomed aircraft ended up crashing on a station, about 20 kilometres out of Winton.
Tragically, 24 people, 20 passengers and four crew members, perished in the accident.
At the time, Ron Willett was 17 and he and his mates, in the town’s main street, noticed black smoke billowing in the distance.
“We drove straight out there. I don’t know why the police never stopped people from going seeing it because it was actually little kids running around out there. I think they got there before the police got there. It was a very sad sight,” he told Costo face-to-face, LIVE on-air, in 4RR-FM’s drive show this afternoon.
Mr Willett, nowadays a well-known and respected figure in the Charleville community where he serves on the board of Bidjara Media and Broadcasting, owner and operator of 4RR-FM, said the confronting scenes on Nadjayamba station, not far from the homestead, had troubled him ever since.
“It’s still in my head today what I seen. I’ve been frightened of planes since,” confessed the former hospital worker who, until today, had never spoken publicly about his experience and has only taken to the skies for one trip away, for a family funeral, albeit very reluctantly at the request of his wife Dawn.
“It was very scary with bodies sizzled up and people everywhere, yeah. It wasn’t a good sight.”
In keeping with tradition, Winton Shire Council organised today’s memorial service in Elderslie Street, right in the middle of town.
Mayor Cathy White also spoke on Costo’s drive show, reflecting on a painful day for the relatives of those who’d lost their lives.
***MORE TO COME***
PHOTO: Today’s memorial service at Winton, marking 60 years since the ill-fated Flight 149, which claimed the lives of 24 people.
POSTED: Tuesday, September 22, 2026