On 3 March 1942, PK-AFV, a Douglas DC-3-194 airliner operated by KNILM, was shot down over Western Australia by Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service fighter aircraft, resulting in the deaths of four passengers and the loss of diamonds worth an estimated A£ 150,000 – 300,000, equivalent to A$12.5 – 25 million in 2022.

The Japanese pilots, who were at a higher altitude than the DC-3, dived at it and fired at its port side, scoring numerous hits.

The port engine caught fire and Smirnov was wounded in his arms and hip, but managed to put the aircraft into a steep spiral dive.

Smirnoff made a wheels-down landing on the beach, according to his 1947 book De Toekomst heeft Vleugels (transl.

While rolling along the ground, the right tire was hit and exploded causing the plane to make an abrupt right turn into the surf and deeper water.

The following day, as the survivors awaited a rescue party, a Japanese Kawanishi H6K flying boat spotted the wreck and dropped two bombs.

A mariner from Broome named Jack Palmer, arrived at the scene of the crash, a couple of days after the rescue.

In May 1943, Palmer and two associates, James Mulgrue and Frank Robinson, were tried in the Supreme Court of Western Australia for theft of the diamonds.