From today's Post Guria.......
Cow on runway
By PORENI UMAU
A STRAY cow wandering on the runway at Nadzab airport in Morobe Province forced an Air Niugini Fokker 100 flight to pull out of a landing
attempt, it was revealed yesterday.
According to reports, the Air Niugini flight into Nadzab at 8 on Wednesday night, carrying 80 passengers including Morobe Governor Luther
Wenge and Menyamya MP Benjamin Philip, had to abort landing on the runway as the pilot feared hitting the cow.
Mr Wenge spoke about the incident, which was also confirmed by his protocol officer Roy Miringke last night.
They said it was getting dark but everyone in the plane felt it was fortunate that the pilot of the jet plane had seen the cow and aborted
landing at the last minute, although it had already committed his plane to land.
The Nadzab airport is on the Markham plains and is surrounded by ranches that hold hundreds of cows and horses.
Mr Wenge complained that such stray animals wandering on the airport runway at any time was a “risky business” for the Civil Aviation
Authority (CAA), Air Niugini and any other airlines using the Nadzab airport.
“Had the pilot not seen the cow, there would have been a crash which could have resulted in the death of about 80 people on that flight,” Mr
Wenge said.
He challenged the CAA at Nadzab to build proper fencing around the airport premises to prevent stray animals getting onto the runway.
Mr Miringke said the plane had to abort landing and took off into the air again and came back to land after 10 to 20 minutes of circling in
the air. PNG Airports Limited Operations manager Mark Sahin said he had not received any report of the incident but said there were local farmers who were not careful with their livestock and often let them roam near the airport grounds.
Mr Sahin said the airport had secure fences to prevent stray animals from getting onto the runway.
“To go into the runway, there are small fences in place so I do not think any stray animal could get in there,” he said.
He said the pilot had not reported the incident. PNG Airports Limited is a private company owned by CAA and manages the Nadzab airport. Air Niugini’s chief executive officer Wasantha Kumarasiri said last night he was not aware of the incident.
“It (report) should come into the system but I was not briefed by the management.
“Air Niugini faces many challenges and one of them is stray animals including dogs, cows, pigs and the management is aware of such risks,” Mr Kumarasiri said.
He said there should be a proper and secure fencing at all airports and appreciated the comment made by Governor Wenge.
“I am sure CAA would acknowledge this,” Mr Kumarasiri said. He immediately called for a report on the matter from his staff.