Pilot  Lt. Al Quinones (POW, survived)
Crashed  November 7, 1943
MACR  3037

Pilot History
John Dunbar adds:
"I gave new pilot Quinones on Nov 3, '43 some sage advice on how to manage my newly assigned P-38 on a Rabaul mission. A few days later he was victim of a lucky hit by a zero and had to bail out. I don't know about the aircraft number but it had #37 on the nose, no nose art."

Mission History
Engaged in a dogfight in the Wide Bay area, Quinones bailed out 3-5 miles north of Wide Bay, and landed 200 yards south of the Powell River. His aircraft continued flying, traversing the Baining Mountains, heading almost back towards Rabaul before crashing south of Lemingi Village, over 25 miles from where the pilot bailed out. Al Quinones was captured and became a POW at Rabaul. He survived the war.

Wreckage
Wreckage was discovered and visited in 1984 by Brian Bennett, Bruce Hoy and US Army CILHI .

Brian Bennett adds:
"When Jose Holquin, Bruce Hoy and I got to B-17E "Naught But Nice" we had been told beforehand about another crashed airplane further up the valley. In '84 CILHI were out and we went up the valley to a pad that had been precut by the locals on the edge of a very steep ridge. I recall that we walked a little way and here was an engine with the tail boom mostly concertined onto the rear of the engine. Had only been at the site a few minutes when Bruce located an engine cowl with either a serial or constructors number. As soon as he had looked it up in his little notebook and learned that it was not MIA he lost interest and we were gone. No inspection of the site done and if a photo was taken i don't recall and i never took any."

References
Bruce Hoy status cards PNG Museum.
Thanks to Brian Bennett for additional information

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