Update from ABC News
PNG plane crash: report blames loss of engine power for crash, killing Australian pilot Adam Reid - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Air safety authorities in Papua New Guinea have released a preliminary report into a plane crash that killed an Australian trainee pilot last month.Victorian man Adam Reid, 38, and two passengers were killed when a Tropicair Cessna Grand Caravan crashed in Gulf Province.
The Accident Investigation Commission's preliminary report says two minutes into the flight from Kamusi to Purari there was a loud pop then a complete loss of engine power.
The pilot made a forced landing at a disused and bumpy airstrip but could not bring the plane to a stop, and it crashed into a river.
He was able to get out of the cockpit and help the surviving passengers to the riverbank.
The report says the pilot had more than 2,000 flying hours, 800 of which were in the Cessna.
It says initial investigations of the engine revealed substantial internal damage.