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| Date: | Wednesday 8 March 1961 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Piaggio P.166 |
| Owner/operator: | Papuan Air Transport (Patair) |
| Registration: | VH-PAU |
| MSN: | 366/015 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Aircraft missing |
| Location: | Missing Owen Stanley Range -
 Papua New Guinea
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Unknown |
| Departure airport: | Popondetta (AYGR) |
| Port Moresby (AYPY) | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
The aircraft was on a 25 minute flight from Popondetta over the Owen Stanley ranges to Port Moresby. The pilot reported over Kokoda and the last transmission heard was 10 minutes before ETA when the pilot reported encountering bad weather. A subsequent search involving up to 30 aircraft and lasting 17 days found no trace of the aircraft. Pilot Geoffrey Neil Wallace (25) was the sole occupant. (Anecdotal reports indicate that the wreckage was found — during the search for Piper Aztec VH-SPM — over 9 years later on 1 October 1970 at 9400 feet, off course, in the Owen Stanley ranges. There appear to be no public records to support this claim.)
Sources:
Canberra Times, 13 March 1961, page 1,
PNG Post-Courier, 14 January 1970, page 5,
https://www.goodall.com.au/australian-aviation/piaggio-136-166/piaggiop166.html
https://www.pprune.org/pacific-general-aviation-questions/252393-p166-vh-pau-lost-png.html
Images:
PNG, 1961
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 27-Sep-2008 01:00 | ASN archive | Added |
| 21-Jan-2010 21:26 | TB | Updated [Aircraft type, Cn, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Damage, Narrative, ] |
| 08-Nov-2010 15:03 | TB | Updated [Operator, ] |
| 08-Nov-2010 15:10 | TB | Updated [Narrative, ] |
| 16-Apr-2011 09:36 | TB | Updated [Aircraft type, Cn, ] |
| 13-Jun-2022 09:53 | Turbulator | Updated [Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Damage, Narrative, Photo, ] |
| 26-Jun-2023 05:39 | Ron Averes | Updated |
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