Mechanical fault suspected
From Radio New Zealand International
But the first secretary to the Minister for Civil Aviation, Levai Wama, says it already looks like there was a mechanical fault on the plane.
“Based on the information that the pilot gave to the towers which was there’s smoke coming out of the engines and we’re running out of power, doing a forced landing, that’s what they said, which resulted in it crash landing.”
Levai Wama says a team from Canada representing the airframe manufacturers and engine makers are doing their own investigations.
PNG crash: Pilot saw smoke, attempted emergency landing