PNG crash investigator: I'm on my own
By
Trevor Bormann for AM
13 killed: The wreckage of the Twin Otter in the jungle near the Kokoda Track (AAP: Dave Hunt)
Papua New Guinea's only air crash investigator says last week's fatal Kokoda plane crash was an accident waiting to happen, and he cannot even visit every crash site because money is so tight.
It is almost a week since a chartered Twin Otter aircraft with 13 people on board slammed into a mountainside near the Kokoda Track, with nine Australians among the dead.
It may be weeks before their remains can be taken home.
Australian expatriate Sidney O'Toole, who runs PNG's Air Crash Investigation branch, has told ABC1's Foreign Correspondent he runs a ludicrously lean operation, with a staffing situation which is "beyond critical".
He says he has an office, but no computer or dedicated fax; even now he has to use his own mobile phone on the job.
"I'm on my Pat Malone, to coin a phrase, and there's no backup," Mr O'Toole said.
It might not be a problem if it wasn't for the fact that PNG's skies are some of the most dangerous in the world.
With roads unable to penetrate much of this mountainous country, Papua New Guinea is highly dependent on its air network.
But its changeable weather and tiny hillside airstrips make the country a perilous place to fly.
Melbourne man Laurie Leslie lost his pilot brother Ian in a crash in 2007.
Ian's body was recovered but the wreckage remains at the accident site and there was never a proper investigation.
"I believe I've got closure on Ian's passing, but I would like to know what was the cause of the accident," Mr Leslie said.
'We're desperate'
In the last year alone there have been another 12 air crashes and Mr O'Toole says he has not been able to make it to them all.
"Our staffing situation is beyond critical. When I use the word desperate, I mean how desperate is desperate - it's just ludicrous having one man," he said.
Life was beginning to turn around for Mr O'Toole, with a new Accident Investigation Commission set up to get funds flowing.
He was dispatched to Canada to take an engine from a crashed aircraft back to the manufacturer for examination, which is where he was when the Twin Otter crashed near Kokoda.
"I can't be in two places at the same time," he said.
"I look at the resources and everything that have been provided by the Australian Government and there was absolutely, positively no way that our commission or the government of Papua New Guinea could respond in that manner."
Aviation analysts say this should be the start of better cooperation on air safety between the two countries.
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Trevor Bormann's report can be seen on Foreign Correspondent tonight on ABC1 at 8:00pm.
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