P166 VH-PAU lost in PNG
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P166 VH-PAU lost in PNG 8/3/61
P166 VH-PAU entered service with PATAIR early June 1960. It was lost without trace 8/3/61, over the Owen Stanley Ranges, on a Popondetta-Port Moresby fight (pilot Capt. Geoff Wallace; the sole occupant). Despite some 30 aircraft & 200 volunteers searching for it, the search was abandoned 16 days later. The wreckage was found 1/10/70, some 3100m up the side of mountain in the Owen Stanley Ranges, during a search for a crashed Piper Aztec. The finding of the wreckage confirmed what was believed at the time, that the pilot of the Piaggio had taken the direct Popondetta to Port Moresby route in bad weather rather than adhering to company policy of diverting to the south of the Ranges and flying coastal to Port Moresby.
Thats the limit of info I can find on the web. I knew Geoff in the late fifties when he flew for Silver City Air Taxis (Austers and Cessna 180s) and he gave great encouragement to this young teenager by way of rides whenever he was able. (in return I exercised on the quart stroke among other tasks) When Geoff was lost the local word was he had an engine fire which burnt through the bearers allowing the engine to fall free. Story had it that he had radioed this info. I note from the web the Pigs had a lot of trouble in PNG with making metal in the engines due to the demands made on the engine and the use of the wrong oil. Any of the old PNG hands able to provide info eg crash site, any actual determination of cause, were his remains retrieved, possible site of internment? Any other stories as well.
Up till today I was not aware the wreckage had been found. Have fond memories of a great guy.
Blue Skies,
Brian
Thats the limit of info I can find on the web. I knew Geoff in the late fifties when he flew for Silver City Air Taxis (Austers and Cessna 180s) and he gave great encouragement to this young teenager by way of rides whenever he was able. (in return I exercised on the quart stroke among other tasks) When Geoff was lost the local word was he had an engine fire which burnt through the bearers allowing the engine to fall free. Story had it that he had radioed this info. I note from the web the Pigs had a lot of trouble in PNG with making metal in the engines due to the demands made on the engine and the use of the wrong oil. Any of the old PNG hands able to provide info eg crash site, any actual determination of cause, were his remains retrieved, possible site of internment? Any other stories as well.
Up till today I was not aware the wreckage had been found. Have fond memories of a great guy.
Blue Skies,
Brian
Last edited by Brian Abraham; 15th Nov 2006 at 14:55. Reason: Add date to title
Silly Old Git
Cant help much but to say I think the Aztec was STOL AIR and the search was from Milne Bay to POM
I think they found a few military wrecks at the same time
It was a busy year for searches
Some of the Patair /Club dero types on here would probably have more info
I think they found a few military wrecks at the same time
It was a busy year for searches
Some of the Patair /Club dero types on here would probably have more info
The Aztec was probably VH-SPM, belonging to South Pacific Aero Club in Port Moresby.
The best bad weather/late pm route from POP to POM was probably south of Mt Obree, which took you over lower 'hills' toward Sofia, and then to the south coast.
I think that subsequent searches have found wartime wrecks on and near Mt Obree, so the Pig crash certainly wasnt the 1st to go there.
poteroo
The best bad weather/late pm route from POP to POM was probably south of Mt Obree, which took you over lower 'hills' toward Sofia, and then to the south coast.
I think that subsequent searches have found wartime wrecks on and near Mt Obree, so the Pig crash certainly wasnt the 1st to go there.
poteroo
Grandpa Aerotart
That'd be Safia.
To lend some scale to the WW2 wrecks theme...years ago I had about a million beers with the Officer Commanding a US (Marines?) Graves registration unit that used to spend a few weeks/mths a year in PNG...based out of Hawaii from memory.
At that time, 10 + years ago, there were still over 500 missing US aircraft in PNG.
Clearly many/most probably in deep water and will never be found given that within, at most, a few nm of the coast the water is thousands of feet deep around most of PNG..actually more often than not within a few hundred meters....but it makes you think...quite sobbering in fact.
And that the VASTE majority of those missing aircraft were not enemy action...according to his satistics.
Can anyone think of a single area of high terrain (above 10) in PNG that is not literally littered with wartime aircraft wrecks? I can't.
To lend some scale to the WW2 wrecks theme...years ago I had about a million beers with the Officer Commanding a US (Marines?) Graves registration unit that used to spend a few weeks/mths a year in PNG...based out of Hawaii from memory.
At that time, 10 + years ago, there were still over 500 missing US aircraft in PNG.
Clearly many/most probably in deep water and will never be found given that within, at most, a few nm of the coast the water is thousands of feet deep around most of PNG..actually more often than not within a few hundred meters....but it makes you think...quite sobbering in fact.
And that the VASTE majority of those missing aircraft were not enemy action...according to his satistics.
Can anyone think of a single area of high terrain (above 10) in PNG that is not literally littered with wartime aircraft wrecks? I can't.
Silly Old Git
Poteroo I believe you are right Id forgotten about the Dero Aztec
It doesnt help find the PIGG tho.
It doesnt help find the PIGG tho.
Last edited by tinpis; 16th Nov 2006 at 20:52. Reason: googly be thy friend :D
I started in Mt Hagen January 1961, and the PAU accident wasn't long after that, if my memory still serves, so it would have been imported in 1960. It was quite a shock allover TPNG, because the aircraft was new, and had been promoted as a huge improvement in transport performance for the industry.
Around this time there was also the loss of one of Gibbes Norsemans between Minj and Mendi.....about a week after I'd been in it, Minj to Hagen.
The SPAC (VH-SPM),accident was quite a shock to me later on, because I'd been flying it through 1969 and right up to Feb 1970, when I left for WA.
CC: had heard that US maps from WW2 were shockingly inaccurate on heights - some as much as 1000' too low. The Finnisterres had lots of CFIT's right along the top, because, as you remember, they 'block' most northerly tracks out of Lae/Nadzab.
happy days
Around this time there was also the loss of one of Gibbes Norsemans between Minj and Mendi.....about a week after I'd been in it, Minj to Hagen.
The SPAC (VH-SPM),accident was quite a shock to me later on, because I'd been flying it through 1969 and right up to Feb 1970, when I left for WA.
CC: had heard that US maps from WW2 were shockingly inaccurate on heights - some as much as 1000' too low. The Finnisterres had lots of CFIT's right along the top, because, as you remember, they 'block' most northerly tracks out of Lae/Nadzab.
happy days
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Its interesting how things change with time ... and stay the same too. The time I spent in Pop we didn't use a bad wx route to Moresby, it was (allegedly) the good old Garmin 100 straight through the gap from Kokoda on a VFR plan into a 1000' overcast at PM off the ILS (if it was working) and then a VFR clearance "Alpha Bravo Charlie confirm VMC" "affirm" "clear direct Efogi for the Kokoda Gap" or such like to get back. Did it three times a day at Christmas to get the wontoks home + trying to fit the rest of the days schedule in to places like Tetebedi, Emo River, Safia etc. Used to get hammered by the afternoon TS on the way back from Tufi and Wanigela in the early pm and sink about ten cold ones just to get some fluid back into the body. I think i was either too stupid or lucky to get away with it, unlike some good people (like the above) who didn't.
Grandpa Aerotart
I remember meeting an old P47 pilot around 1989/90 who had been based at one of the fields around Moresby and he had come back on a trip down memory lane. He certainly had some stories...talk about a different world.
He recounted the story of a replacement pilot turning up from the US all eagerbeaver with a 'new fangled' instrument rating and how he flew direct Oro Bay (vicinity of I would think) -> Moresby and was all "see it's easy blah blah"
They asked him how high he'd flown and he said something like 11000'...they then told him how high the mountains were on that track and he apparently turned white as a sheet and became somewhat subdued
For those reading not familiar with that area its 13400 LSALT across the Kokoda Gap but you can fly through visually at about 7200', from memory....but that is 50' above the lowest trees in the Gap.
He reckons so often people just didn't come back from a mission or sometimes even a training flight and no-one had any idea what had happened. They were just never seen again.
Pretty amazing generation I think.
He recounted the story of a replacement pilot turning up from the US all eagerbeaver with a 'new fangled' instrument rating and how he flew direct Oro Bay (vicinity of I would think) -> Moresby and was all "see it's easy blah blah"
They asked him how high he'd flown and he said something like 11000'...they then told him how high the mountains were on that track and he apparently turned white as a sheet and became somewhat subdued
For those reading not familiar with that area its 13400 LSALT across the Kokoda Gap but you can fly through visually at about 7200', from memory....but that is 50' above the lowest trees in the Gap.
He reckons so often people just didn't come back from a mission or sometimes even a training flight and no-one had any idea what had happened. They were just never seen again.
Pretty amazing generation I think.
Man Bilong Balus long PNG
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For those reading not familiar with that area its 13400 LSALT across the Kokoda Gap but you can fly through visually at about 7200', from memory....but that is 50' above the lowest trees in the Gap.
Unfortunately all my IFR charts went west years ago so I cannot remember what the route LSALTs were anywhere!
