Keith Chapsport, a 14-year-old boy with an insatiable appetite for adventure, played out one of the most disturbing and tragic episodes in Australian aviation history.
By: Infobay
On that fateful February 22, 1970, his drive to discover the world led him to a decision that would end his life in the most dramatic way. The story is about how a young man from the suburbs of Randwick, Sydney, Australia found eternity in search of freedom; John Gilpin, an amateur photographer, unwittingly captures that fleeting moment between life and fall.
From an early age, Keith displayed a voracious desire to explore beyond the confines of his Randwick home. The son of Charles Chapsford, a respected university professor of mechanical and industrial engineering, he grew up in an environment where knowledge and curiosity about how the world worked was common currency. Despite repeated opportunities to travel with his family, young Subsford developed a restless spirit that even the vast seas could not tame. Concerned about his extreme restlessness, his parents enrolled him in Boys Town Engadine, an Australian residential high school for teenagers, thinking that discipline and organization would channel his endless energy. However, nothing could be further from the truth.
Ignoring his father's advice about the dangers of venturing into the unknown regions of the air, Keith Sapsport decided to operate under his own code of invention. He escapes from school and makes his way to Sydney's Kingsford Smith Airport with the trick of someone he believes is invincible. Here, at this point of no return, Keith finds a ticket to adventure, a Japan Airlines Douglas TC-8 from Tokyo.
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