The National - 14 July
A twin-engine aircraft crash-landed at the Kagamuga airport in the Western Highlands province and burst into flames yesterday morning but the pilot escaped unhurt. The Australian pilot, whose identity is not known, was the only person on board the Australian-registered Bonanza Beech aircraft at the time of the crash. It is understood the plane was forced down due to “technical trouble”, but Civil Aviation officials contacted yesterday refused to speculate. Contractors working at the Kagamuga Airport were able to rush the pilot to safety after the plane crash-landed on its belly on the extension of the runway. The airport was closed for more than an hour as the plane burnt until it was completely destroyed. The pilot was shaken badly by the incident but was unhurt. The Civil Aviation fire brigade at the airport could do nothing about the burning plane because the fire truck was in the workshop for service. Another fire truck from the fire station in town arrived at the scene later and helped to put out the flame but it was too late to save the plane. The pilot was one of a group of pilots conducting an air tour of PNG. Officials from the Department of Civil Aviation said flights in and out of Kagamuga stopped for about an hour. An officer, who did not want to be named, confirmed the plane crash-landed on its belly. The officer refused to comment further, saying that it would be premature to do so at this stage. He said that investigation officers from Civil Aviation would arrive in Hagen today to investigate the crash.
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Both articles are not quite correct according to eye-witnesses and transmissions overheard on Hagen Tower frequency:
The aircraft was not a Bonanza but a D55 Baron from Archerfield. Rego, as shown in the Post-Courier photo, was VH-CEW.
The pilot's wife was not on board. The 78 y.o. pilot was the sole occupant.
The aircraft was not forced down due to 'technical trouble' and was not making a forced landing.
The gear did not come down because it was not selected down.
The aircraft did not land on 'the extension of the runway', it came to rest approximately 300m in from the threshold of Runway 30.
The airport was not closed for an hour. Runway 12/30 was closed for approximately 3 hours, Runway 08/26 remained in use.
The pilot was not taken to hospital.
The 'Department of Civil Aviation' ceased to exist years ago, now known as the Civil Aviation Authority.
Other alleged details:
The aircraft cabin was completely destroyed but outer extremities such as nose, tail, wings and engines remained largely unburnt.
The airport fire truck water pump was u/s. No NOTAM was issued re non-availability of RFFS.
Weather at the time was challenging even for experienced PNG pilots. Approx 7/8 total cloud cover, tops around 10,000\', base around 800\' AGL to ground level depending on location, rainshowers in the area. Most gaps, including the Baiyer, Tomba, Wurup, Kuta Ridge and Komun Valley were heavily clouded or completely closed, essentially the opposite information was issued by a briefing office several hours earlier.