Piva – Emirau

On January 6, 1945 at 12:00 AM, Piva – Emirau experienced a crash involving Lockheed PV-1 Ventura, operated by Royal New Zealand Air Force - RNZAF, with the event recorded near Piva Autonomous Region of Bougainville.

The flight was categorized as military and the reported phase was takeoff (climb) at a lake, sea, ocean, river crash site.

7 people were known to be on board, 7 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 100.0%.

Crew on board: 7, crew fatalities: 7, passengers on board: 0, passenger fatalities: 0, other fatalities: 0.

Few minutes after take off from Piva Aerodrome, en route to Emirau Island, the twin engine aircraft crashed into the sea some 15 miles offshore. No trace of the aircraft nor the crew was ever found, except two dinghies and a headset. Crew (4th Squadron): W/Cdr Norman Lecher, F/Lt John Wright, F/Lt Harald Thomson, W/O William Boughey, F/O Barclay Harrington, Sgt Lewis Mawson, Sgt Rex Mossman.

Aircraft reference details include registration NZ4623, MSN 6338, year of manufacture 1944.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately -6.2168°, 155.0727°.