Post #3910 C206 Beach Landing
Waghi Warrior,
Received the attached information from John Cheung of Island Air, Madang.
News Wednesday 17th July 2013
Plane crashes
By ARMSTRONG SAIYAMA
A LIGHT aircraft has crashed on its maiden flight to a prepared airstrip on a beach in Yambo village in Bukawa, Morobe Province in May, 2013.
Eyewitnesses told Post-Courier last Friday that the plane — Cessna 206 — landed on Samwha beach on a Sunday in the first week of May.
The Cessna 206 was piloted by Bob Herchman and he was accompanied by his wife Julie to Yambo village.
Herchman comes from Las Vegas in America.
He is married to Julie from Umba village in Menyamya, Morobe Province.
He owns the PNG Minerals Exchange Limited, based in Bulolo town.
Eyewitness Yalu Alumbamtuyom confirmed that the Cessna 206 plane had landed on the prepared airstrip on Samwha beach.
“Its front wheel got broken, and the tyres sank into the sand, and the plane’s nose dived into the sand, and its propeller got broken, causing the plane to flip over,” Mr Alumbamtuyom said.
He said the occupants escaped unhurt.
Mr Alumbamtuyom said Herchman’s first flight to Yambo village was to assess the accessibility of the prepared beach airstrip to help the villagers.
“Our Bukawa road is deteriorating, and we are struggling to bring our cash crops, fresh garden produce and marine resources to markets in Lae,” he said.
Mr Alumbamtuyom urged the Civil Aviation Department not to penalise Mr Herchman.
Yambo village ward committee Yanam Tuyom reiterated that Mr Herchman should not be punished by the Civil Aviation Department.
“Mr Herchman comes to help us, when the Government and our Morobean leaders are blind to fix our Bukawa road,” Mr Tuyom said. Another witness Andrew Tuyom said when the plane landed on the prepared beach airstrip, its wheels struggled to move, as the wheels got sank in the sand. He added the entire Yambo villagers were at their church, and could not have witnessed what had happened.
Earlier in this month, Accident and Investigation Commission CEO David Inau and his team had visited the crash site.
“The pilot hasn’t reported the incident,” Mr Inau said.He said the pilot’s attempted landing on the badly prepared airstrip along the beach was illegal.
“The nose wheel of the plane sank in the sand, and the plane flipped over to its back,” Mr Inau said. He added that the occupants of the plane escaped unhurt.
“It’s an unauthorised landing strip.
“At this stage, the pilot operating at that prepared airstrip is illegal.
“There are rules and laws in civil aviation.
“It’s a regulated industry,” Mr Inau said.
Morobe Governor Kelly Naru told Parliament last week that the light aircraft nearly caused a mid-air collision with an Airlines PNG aircraft. He said the light aircraft was unlicensed, flown by an unlicensed pilot and was flying to an undesignated and unauthorised airstrip in Bukawa, from an unknown departure destination.
Governor Naru said everything that the light aircraft did was illegal and endangered the lives of many people.
Meanwhile, the Accident and Investigation Commission is trying to get in touch with the pilot to establish the facts involved in the crash landing.
The Post-Courier has attempted for several days to contact Mr Herchman but he was not answering the calls on his mobile phone.