I used the PM system on the other board to ask my contact to view the photos here and, if possible, confirm that this is Long Pasia. This was his reply:

Gday

Thats def. long pasia and that is the wreckage. It was def. not a spitfire or anything bigger than a light aircraft because its a short air strip and the largest aircraft I have heard landing and taking off from that air strip was the de havild caribou which is a STOL cargo aircraft…

The air strip isn’t in use anymore as there is a logging road that during the wet season is quite a challenging drive even with a 4 x 4 vehicle..

The folks who own the home stay shld be able to verify if the wreckage is still there as I haven’t been up there since 93 or 94..and that was when they used to still fly out there with the twin otters…

cheers

I have already emailed the people he mentions to see if the wreckage is indeed still there.

Aeronut 2008, many thanks for the reply. Pity there is no indication of date. The photos seem fairly recent.

Although the accounts of the accident refer to Long Pasia as being in Sarawak, it is, in fact, in the SW corner of the state of Sabah. Although, it is not far from the border with Sarawak.

I have posted on a local forum to see if any other info will come to light.

Keith, many thanks for the link. I haven’t seen that site but will rectify that now. The link does work BTW. Thanks again.

209 Sqn aircraft wore no identifiable markings but were all silver when I was in Singapore early 60’s.

I can’t find any reference to a crashed ‘single’ Pioneer in the Borneo Confrontation, just the Twin XN318. Perhaps therefore a machine lost on the Malay Peninsula.

David Taylor.

David, can I ask where your photo of the Single Pin was taken?

I am very interested in what appears to be a mobile radar trailer behind the aircraft’s nose. It reminds me very much of the old AA4 Mk7 radars that we used during Confrontation to plug radar blind spots.

Re the photos in the original post, I am aware of one Single Pin loss in Borneo. This was XL517 of 209 Sqn and it came down in trees on approach at Long Pasia (Long Pa Sia), Sarawak, on 15 July 1966. There is an interesting anecdote attached to this accident. After the occupants had scrambled clear of the wreckage, the pilot was asked by his senior Army passenger to return to the aircraft and retrieve the Army officer’s hat. When asked why, the Army officer is reported as saying; “In case someone wants to salute me when we’re rescued”!!!

Have also had a look at the Long Pasia area on Google Earth. It is some 11 – 12 miles north of the border with Indonesia and seems to have a small strip still in existence. However, as it is outside the photographic coverage, no great detail can be seen. The airstrip is at some 3600 ft and the terrain to the east is very similar to that in the photo. Assuming a lot here, but could it be what remained/remains of XL517?

Thanks for that Lauriebe, I have just found an entry in ASN ….

http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19520703-0

Would this aircraft have been abandoned on the beach ?
Would it have been stripped of useful parts ? If so how were these returned. helicopter ?

Keith.

Keith, Cummings, in his book that I quoted above, states that the aircraft was not recovered. Looking at Google, it came down in what was then a very remote location. Oya, as I mentioned, is pretty much due north of Sibu, on the coast of Sarawak.

Having force landed there, it would have been very difficult to fully salvage. Although I can’t confirm it in this case, it was normally usual practice to remove what could be carried and leave the rest of the wreck in situ. The sea would probably have been the best option for any recovery party to reach the aircraft and undertake this task.

Re your query on helicopters. At that time, mid-1952, the only helicopters in FEAF were the S51s of the Casualty Evacuation Flight and they were based on the Malay Peninsular, not in Sarawak. Even if one had been in that area, it is unlikely that it could have been used to recover anything from this accident.

G’day mate, I had a private bet you’d pop up for this one! 😀 I’ve got a feeling they’re ‘bigger’ types, but we need higher res for meaningful guesses, IMHO.

Did Key ever publish that article? Let me know by PM if you prefer.

Morning, James. Can’t resist a Sundy photo, especially from that period!:)

Re the article, all primed and ready I’m told. Will be published when space permits. I’ll keep you posted.

Have just seen a photo of the NF14 on the gate at Tengah. Mid-60s is the best guess on a date. It displays the original serial, WS787, instead of the the FEAF/110 number, but all other markings are identical to the aircraft in the photo in the first post.