In January 1977, McGowan was a passenger on the train that left the tracks and hit a bridge causing it to collapse on two carriages of the train, resulting in 83 deaths. The tragedy occurred in Granville in Sydney's west and became known as the Granville rail disaster. McGowan survived because he always sat in the last carriage as he felt it was safer. His first-hand reporting of the tragedy on radio 2UW, on the John Laws program, was "one of the most powerful news reports filed in Australian radio", according to award-winning news reporter and journalist, Andrew Rule.