On March 24, 1944 took off from Nadzab Airfield piloting P-38J "Marge" 42-103993 with P-38 pilot Lt. Rolland Forrester on a weather reconnaissance mission bound for Wewak. After take off, the pair encountered bad weather with a heavy overcast and turbulence beyond 30,000'. Roughly 50 minutes into the flight, Malone experienced problems with the left engine cooler shutters and radio reception was poor. Due to the bad weather, the P-38s lost contact with each other but heard a radio message from base stating the mission was canceled. Shortly afterwards, Malone's radio failed, one engine stopped and the propeller failed to feather followed by an electrical failure. This P-38 went into a spin and descended to an altitude of 11,000' before Malone bailed out. When his parachute opened, he was nearly knocked unconscious and lost his pistol. Descending in the overcast, he experienced snow inside the clouds before landing unhurt on the eastern side of a river. Using his life raft, Malone attempted to float downriver but the current was too strong and the bottom was rocky. Instead, he walked along the bank for roughly nine hours before encountering a U.S. Army solider from the 32nd Infantry Division (32nd ID) who nearly shot him. Realizing he was an American pilot, he was given food and cigarettes and a radio message was sent reporting him as safe. Overnight, he spent with the soldiers in a foxhole.

On March 25, 1944 in the morning Malone was embarked aboard a barge that transported him downriver bound for Saidor where he spent the rest of the day and night waiting at their regimental headquarters. On March 26, 1944 in the morning he boarded another barge and was taken to Saidor Airfield then flown to Nadzab Airfield and returned to duty. Afterwards, Captain Richard I. Bong was upset about the loss of his P-38 but acknowledged it had some mechanical issues.

Later, promoted to the rank of 1st Lieutenant and became a P-61 Black Widow night fighter pilot and often flew with radar operator Lt. Tom Glynn.