Accidents
Roger Young, in his account of MAF operations in Papua New Guinea, documents the disappearance of MAF Cessna 185 registration VH-MFG on 23 June 1967. Pilot John Harverson was on a routine short-hop (20 - 25 minute) flight from Telefomin to Olsobip with two passengers when he was reported overdue after failing to radio in as scheduled. The flight involved a climb from 5500 feet (1676m) to over 9000 feet (2743m) to cross mountainous terrain, frequently shrouded in cloud, at the southern end of which is a sheer rock formation several thousand feet in height called the Hindenburg Wall. Despite an extensive 10-day search over 8000 square kilometres, neither the plane nor the bodies of the pilot and passengers were ever found. Some years later, an army helicopter pilot in the area reported seeing wreckage of an aircraft at the base of the Wall while overflying the area. Despite returning the following day, he was unable to re-locate the spot where the supposed wreckage had been glimpsed 24 hours earlier.
On 22 December 1968, a Cessna 180 with registration PI-C452 operated by MAF crashed near the village of Quezon, Palawan, Philippines killing pilot George Raney and passenger Merle Buckingham. They were making a routine supply drop to some Australian missionaries working in the Quezon area and after making the drop experienced engine failure while powering up to gain altitude. The aircraft crashed approximately 100 yards from a beach where Mr. Raney was attempting to make an emergency landing before striking the coconut trees just short of the beach. Both Mr. Raney and Mr. Buckingham were killed instantly and they were recovered by members of the Quezon Baptist Church. They are both buried in Puerto Princessa, Philippines.
On 17 December 1994 a de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 200 with registration P2-MFS, operated by the Mission Aviation Fellowship crashed in Papua New Guinea while en route from Tabubil to the nearby village of Selbang. 28 people were killed, including both the crew and all passengers. The aircraft struck a mountain due to poor visibility and lack of functioning instruments at 6400 ft.
On 22 February 2005, a de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 300 with registration P2-MFQ, operated by the Mission Aviation Fellowship crashed en route from Tabubil to Bimin. The plane hit a mountain whilst trying to detect the village runway. The two pilots, Chris Hansen, 37, and Richard West, 40 (both from New Zealand), were killed in the accident but the cabin attendant and 8 passengers survived and were able to walk to the village.
On 23 March 2006 a Cessna 206 aircraft operated by Missionary Aviation Fellowship crashed close to Tari, killing its pilot and injuring 3 passengers. The pilot was a 42 year Swiss man who had been in PNG with the Swiss Mission for 12 years, and left a wife and four children behind. The pilot had reportedly entered the circuit area around Tari airfield and appeared to be flying well, but never made it to the runway. The three passengers were PNG nationals.
On 16 October 2008, 23 year-old MAF Pilot Hadleigh Smith was killed while flying his GA8 aircraft (registration VH-WRT) to several Australian Aboriginal communities in Arnhem Land, Australia.
Read more about this topic: Mission Aviation Fellowship