RIP - A David Howells, ORC, 45-51

(Adrian) David Howells passed away on 6th March 2026 aged 90. He was a former Sea Fury pilot in the RAN and a distinguished Quantas Captain.

He emigrated to Australia with his family in his teens and joined the Navy in 1953. He graduated from the No. 14 Pilots’ Course in mid-1954 and was one of the last straight deck aviators, flying off the HMAS Melbourne.

His Quantas career included an incident where he was able to regain control of a passenger plane that has gone into a spiral dive while he was off on a break, shortly after leaving Bahrain on the way to London. It was reported that at that time he had battled 6Gs of force to get back to the cockpit, and the plane has gone supersonic. His notoriety from that incident left him with the moniker, “The Bahrain Bomber” and is embedded in Quantas’ history.

His retirement was spent relaxing with Beverley, his wife of 67 years. They had two children, Simon and Jennifer. Sophie, their Dobermann was also a special companion.