Two pilots from Australia and New Zealand are believed to be among four survivors of a plane crash in Papua New Guinea in which up to 28 people died.
The Airlines PNG Dash 8 plane, carrying 32 people, crashed in dense forest on Papua New Guinea’s north coast about 5pm local time (6pm AEDT) on Thursday.
It was on a flight from Lae, PNG’s second largest city, to the resort centre of Madang, when it crashed near the mouth of the Gogol River, about 20km south-east of Madang.
The aircraft was believed to be carrying parents of students attending the Divine Word University in Madang, for a thanksgiving ceremony this weekend.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade says initial indications are that no Australians are among those killed, but that an Australian and a New Zealander were pilots on the flight and had survived the crash.
It could not confirm early reports that two Australians were among three crew to survive the crash.
Local firefighter Joe Dunar said the crash happened at Gogol, about 50km outside of Madang.
“All the police and hospital personnel, they attended at about 9pm (8pm AEDT),” he said.
“It was hard to get there. Very dense.”
He declined to comment on reports of survivors.
Villagers near Madang told the National Broadcasting Commission, PNG’s government-owned radio station, there were four survivors.
Duty manager at the Madang Resort, Donald Lambert, told AAP that six of the plane’s occupants – one passenger and five crew – had booked to stay at the resort.
“I went to meet them at the airport,” he said.
Residents in Madang said there was a violent storm in the area at the time of the crash.
Airlines PNG confirmed one of its Dash 8 aircraft had crashed and said it had grounded its fleet of 12 aircraft until further notice.
In a statement on its website, the airline said there were 28 passengers and four crew members on the plane and there appeared to be some survivors, while a number of people remained unaccounted for.
“We are sad to confirm that there has been an accident involving an Airlines PNG Dash 8 aircraft near Madang late Thursday afternoon,” the airline’s media statement said.
“Airlines PNG is working with the emergency service authorities to confirm this information in more detail.”
The airline said it had grounded its Dash 8 fleet of 12 aircraft until further notice and it was cooperating with authorities to mount rescue and recovery efforts.
It said a full investigation was under way by authorities and Airlines PNG about the possible cause of the accident.
“Our prayers and thoughts are now with all those affected by this very sad day for Papua New Guinea,” the statement said.
source: http://news.smh.com.au/
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