Hunt resumes for missing aircraft in Papua New Guinea
August 12th, 2009 - 5:15 am ICT by John Le FevreA ground and air search has resumed in the shadows of the rugged Owen Stanley ranges in Papua New Guinea (PNG) for an Airlines of PNG aircraft, believed crashed.
The aircraft, a DHC-6 Twin Otter, departed Port Moresby yesterday with 13 people, including nine Australians, onboard on their way to walk the infamous Kokoda Track.
The plane failed to arrive at Kokoda as scheduled and a search was mounted but halted due to bad weather in the search area.
The Australian government has dispatched fixed and rotary wing aircraft to join the search, with authorities confident they have narrowed the search area down to a limited area.
Seven Victorians and two Queenslanders were aboard the aircraft and Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said there were, “grave concerns for their safety and well being”.
The airspace throughout PNG is largely uncontrolled and weather conditions are considered throughout the aviation industry to be treacherous.
At this time of the year pilots flying over PNG routinely experience low cloud and monsoonal rain, which, combined with the high mountain ranges, makes commercial flight operations a challenge.
Authorities say the plane’s emergency beacon has not been detected yet but are not reading anything into the missing signal.
The DHC-6 Twin Otter is a twin engine, high-wing 20-passenger STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing) aircraft built by de Havilland Canada. It’s STOL abilities and high rate of climb have made it a successful cargo, regional passenger airliner and MEDEVAC aircraft.
More than 600 of the aircraft have been built and are in use by more than 120 civil and military operators worldwide.
- Wreckage of missing plane found in Papua New Guinea - Aug 12, 2009
- Nine Australians killed in Papua New Guinea plane crash - Aug 12, 2009
- Nine Australians on plane missing in Papua New Guinea - Aug 11, 2009
- Indonesian Merpati flight missing over Papua - Aug 02, 2009
- Plane possibly carrying former U.S. Senator Ted Stevens crashes in Alaska - Aug 10, 2010
- Niche airline operators eye the versatile Twin Otter - Apr 05, 2010
- Six killed in Antonov An-148 plane crash in Russia - Mar 05, 2011
- Former Senator Ted Stevens was aboard the plane, which crashed in Alaska, 5 killed - Aug 10, 2010
- Ex-Senator Ted Stevens confirmed dead in Alaska plane crash - Aug 11, 2010
- U.S. Navy plane carrying four service members crashes in the North Arabian Sea - Mar 31, 2010
- Former U.S. Senator Ted Stevens, former NASA head O'Keefe aboard crashed plane in Alaska - Aug 10, 2010
- Aerocaribbean Plane Crash Leaves All Crew And passengers Dead In Central Cuba - Nov 05, 2010
- Indonesian plane with 17 people aboard remains missing - Aug 03, 2009
- Nepal pledges probe as plane crash kills all 22 on board (Lead) - Dec 16, 2010
- Merpati Airlines passenger plane crashes in eastern Indonesia, killing 27 - May 07, 2011
Tags: air search, aviation industry, bad weather, commercial flight, de havilland canada, emergency beacon, flight operations, grave concerns, kokoda track, landing aircraft, military operators, owen stanley ranges, papua new guinea, passenger airliner, queenslanders, rotary wing aircraft, search area, stephen smith, twin otter, weather conditions
