P2-AVR (ex AVIS rent-a-plane) crashed 32 nm wsw of Rabaul on the western side of the Bainings range, blew the stb inboard fuel tank at 8,500 feet and went vertically into a ravine, causing a landslide which covered the wreckage - the pilot was Jim Lockyer. He'd made his 30 mile on descent call to Rabaul FS, probably crossing the coast. They found the site with a brief squeak of the VSB signal - May 1975.
It was one of those rare clear still days in PNG when you could 'see forever'. I was inbound from Witu to Hoskins late afternoon, could see the thin column of smoke but never realised, didn't believe the connection.
It was the first fatality for Crowley Airways, apart from the 'Ronald Biggs' aztec which disappeared out of Lae. The aztecs used by Crowley's were AVB, UNK, PAY, CSA. Perhaps others. Crowleys became PANGA Airways shortly after that and part of TALAIR a year later.