Airlink PNG (Merged)
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How does it happen???
Tragically, about 8 years ago, the same thing happened to a Cessna 206 at Goroka. It was on a route check for a new national pilot. He touched down halfway up the runway. Check pilot took over and attempted to go around. Too low, too slow for a turn, stalled and impacted at the end of the runway. Both pilots got out with injuries but the engineer in the back died in the burning wreckage.
In the washout, there were warning signs about the new pilot during the route check they were carrying out, such as doing a similar thing at Mendi, but got away with it.
Since then, it's not known if the new pilot ever flew again, and the other pilot left and joined another company, but tragically crashed an Islander in bad weather taking 6-7 pax with him.
In PNG, even in good weather, complacency kills!!!
In the washout, there were warning signs about the new pilot during the route check they were carrying out, such as doing a similar thing at Mendi, but got away with it.
Since then, it's not known if the new pilot ever flew again, and the other pilot left and joined another company, but tragically crashed an Islander in bad weather taking 6-7 pax with him.
In PNG, even in good weather, complacency kills!!!
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CC.....early morning FOG/MIST. I first went to GKA in 1991 left in 1993 returned 2000 still commute each month...I have just seen some photos the vis facing west Goroka is still limited (these were taken maybe 30mins after the sudden stop).....I can email them to you if you wish.BH
Grandpa Aerotart
I assumed you meant early morning fog rising up the valley...but I think you missed my point
Please do email the pictures...I used to Check and Train in that C404 for that company...pre and immediately post the 'Rabaul'.
I'll host them and provide a link.
Please do email the pictures...I used to Check and Train in that C404 for that company...pre and immediately post the 'Rabaul'.
I'll host them and provide a link.
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Enroute from Dagobah to Tatooine...!
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Very good news that everyone got out okay. After having a close range look-see this afternoon it smells of a heck of a scary ride for those onboard though...
Not un-repairable but unless there is some serious money injected I doubt poor old ALK will fly again...
Not un-repairable but unless there is some serious money injected I doubt poor old ALK will fly again...
Silly Old Git
Ahem...puts on old lapun silly bugger hat..
In the days GKA had a tower we used to sit in the TAL office on foggy mornings (being badgered by Junior "What TF..you all gone f**ckin twitchy?")waiting for Dave in the tower (where is the nice fella?) to give Rocky a ring to say GKA is open!
We all scrambled out to various 185s and 206s ( the 402 driver Prawn on these sort of day would always be down at Beeps doing some grocery shopping for his missus) and taxy out to a totally fog enshrouded departure end of the strip
Take off and blat your way thru the fog and low cloud at the end of the strip and hopefully carry on to Chimbu ,Kianantu Marawaka wherever.
Seemed to work no one died
I have known of guys sneaking back in up the valley on the eastern side of the strip on ****ty afternoons BELOW the tower and rarking around to land downhill on 17
Also was a pilot who I know pretty well
getting an endorsement on a 402 from the in-imitable Pants
Up in the valley to the north Pants decided to give this guy a real work out so he failed both engines mixture cut
Unfortunately the ginger-beers had removed the un-feathering accumulators on this particular 402
Much starter mashing and battery flattening and no engine start ,Pants decided it may be a good idea to tell the tower he was for a dead stick straight in approach to 17
I cant remember how it turned out but no one died and nothing was bent.
Prolly got nothing to do with what happened to the 404 hopefully
In the days GKA had a tower we used to sit in the TAL office on foggy mornings (being badgered by Junior "What TF..you all gone f**ckin twitchy?")waiting for Dave in the tower (where is the nice fella?) to give Rocky a ring to say GKA is open!
We all scrambled out to various 185s and 206s ( the 402 driver Prawn on these sort of day would always be down at Beeps doing some grocery shopping for his missus) and taxy out to a totally fog enshrouded departure end of the strip
Take off and blat your way thru the fog and low cloud at the end of the strip and hopefully carry on to Chimbu ,Kianantu Marawaka wherever.
Seemed to work no one died
I have known of guys sneaking back in up the valley on the eastern side of the strip on ****ty afternoons BELOW the tower and rarking around to land downhill on 17
Also was a pilot who I know pretty well
getting an endorsement on a 402 from the in-imitable PantsUp in the valley to the north Pants decided to give this guy a real work out so he failed both engines mixture cut
Unfortunately the ginger-beers had removed the un-feathering accumulators on this particular 402
Much starter mashing and battery flattening and no engine start ,Pants decided it may be a good idea to tell the tower he was for a dead stick straight in approach to 17
I cant remember how it turned out but no one died and nothing was bent.
Prolly got nothing to do with what happened to the 404 hopefully
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Interesting stories Tinny.
Goroka has still got a tower (albeit a new one on a scaffold beside the old one) and 'Roland' is the nice guy favourite these days.
No one may have died on the way out but I don't envy the poor beggers trying to get in with the morning fog. Last year they were running a Bandit on the route and I would call it the morning Bandit dance as he criss-crossed the aerodrome at tree top height trying to find a hole to get in.
Crawled up the valley myself on one aweful morning and landed around the same time PX's were diverting back to POM from both Goroka and Hagan... Just one of those rare days where all hell breaks loose in the morning and the weather just socks in for the whole day... Fortunately most of the time the Goroka valley is a lot more friendly than that...
Goroka has still got a tower (albeit a new one on a scaffold beside the old one) and 'Roland' is the nice guy favourite these days.
No one may have died on the way out but I don't envy the poor beggers trying to get in with the morning fog. Last year they were running a Bandit on the route and I would call it the morning Bandit dance as he criss-crossed the aerodrome at tree top height trying to find a hole to get in.
Crawled up the valley myself on one aweful morning and landed around the same time PX's were diverting back to POM from both Goroka and Hagan... Just one of those rare days where all hell breaks loose in the morning and the weather just socks in for the whole day... Fortunately most of the time the Goroka valley is a lot more friendly than that...
Grandpa Aerotart
I seem to remember flying uphill to the airport in an F28 from down Henganofi way more than once to get in under low morning fog lifting...did it LOTS of times in 185s,402s, Islanders, Twotters, bandits etc.
Countless departures in C185 in fog after 'diverting' into GKA the night before to visit with my then GF who was teaching at GIS...up and out early to get the days flying done from Chimbu and then as often as not end up 'diverting' into GKA again 'due weather' (and often not far off last light) on the last lap of the last flight of the day....but I was CP so unlikely to get worked up over 'innappropriate' use of company aircraft
It just NEVER occurred to me EVER to attempt to land down a 6% slope in marginal weather in something like a 404...and I was as keen to 'have a go' as the next guy
It's not about not 'getting the job done'...just some things are probably not worth trying on the balance of probabilities.
ALK was a bloody great aircraft 12 years ago...they were (in the days in Rabaul) beautifully maintained ex Eastern aircraft with great autopilots and a joy to fly...sad to see one has been busted up from a lack of fore thought
Back in Talair days a young bloke smashed an islander through the fence and onto the road at Wau landing on 'the top half' of the strip due early morning fog...from memory the aircraft was written off...when i was there in the Twotter the same **** happened but I flew 3 minutes down the valley, landed at Bulolo and had a smoke and stretch for 20 minutes before returning and landing normally. He figured since we all just used only the top half he'd be fine...it didn't occurr to him there was a difference between a slightly fast approach to the normal touchdown point and then 'flying' up the slope to a low speed touchdown and a steepish approach over the fog bank and trying to lose the speed and stop on the last few hundred meters.
The first words out of the CPs mouth were "You're sacked".
PNG abounds with airborne challenge and 'fun'...but there is a point you just don't cross...you divert somewhere and wait it out...never in 14 years did anyone EVER question my decision to do so...I didn't hold overhead burning fuel I diverted somewhere and landed...in PNG, even in a bandit, you were never (or VERY RARELY) more than 10-15 minutes from somewhere you could land...in a c185 or twotter it was never more than 5 minutes.
Countless departures in C185 in fog after 'diverting' into GKA the night before to visit with my then GF who was teaching at GIS...up and out early to get the days flying done from Chimbu and then as often as not end up 'diverting' into GKA again 'due weather' (and often not far off last light) on the last lap of the last flight of the day....but I was CP so unlikely to get worked up over 'innappropriate' use of company aircraft
It just NEVER occurred to me EVER to attempt to land down a 6% slope in marginal weather in something like a 404...and I was as keen to 'have a go' as the next guy
It's not about not 'getting the job done'...just some things are probably not worth trying on the balance of probabilities.
ALK was a bloody great aircraft 12 years ago...they were (in the days in Rabaul) beautifully maintained ex Eastern aircraft with great autopilots and a joy to fly...sad to see one has been busted up from a lack of fore thought
Back in Talair days a young bloke smashed an islander through the fence and onto the road at Wau landing on 'the top half' of the strip due early morning fog...from memory the aircraft was written off...when i was there in the Twotter the same **** happened but I flew 3 minutes down the valley, landed at Bulolo and had a smoke and stretch for 20 minutes before returning and landing normally. He figured since we all just used only the top half he'd be fine...it didn't occurr to him there was a difference between a slightly fast approach to the normal touchdown point and then 'flying' up the slope to a low speed touchdown and a steepish approach over the fog bank and trying to lose the speed and stop on the last few hundred meters.
The first words out of the CPs mouth were "You're sacked".
PNG abounds with airborne challenge and 'fun'...but there is a point you just don't cross...you divert somewhere and wait it out...never in 14 years did anyone EVER question my decision to do so...I didn't hold overhead burning fuel I diverted somewhere and landed...in PNG, even in a bandit, you were never (or VERY RARELY) more than 10-15 minutes from somewhere you could land...in a c185 or twotter it was never more than 5 minutes.
Lived in Goroka 13 years. Only ever remember one instance of a C206 landing downhill - and he was sacked even before he taxied in! He had the E&I engineer on board and poor old Ian's wife was still scrubbing his underdaks days later!
Still don't know how he missed the pine trees opposite the Post Office!
Would think a C414 landing 17 would probably stop around Henganofi!
Why do people tempt fate in a country like PNG?
Wonder what happened to Dave from the tower and his fish farm mate Ian from PX?
Still don't know how he missed the pine trees opposite the Post Office!
Would think a C414 landing 17 would probably stop around Henganofi!
Why do people tempt fate in a country like PNG?
Wonder what happened to Dave from the tower and his fish farm mate Ian from PX?
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Torres...those trees are much bigger now!!! A few years back we used to all gather on the tarmac for the morning "Show time" a PA31-350 used bring in the papers and the fog would be still around some very interesting approaches,sometimes they would use a Metro....one day he touched down a good way up the strip thought he going deliver the papers straight to the sellers outside the post office....one lucky Chieftain pilot after having dropped off the papers was on the take off run when one of the engines decided to go bad.. managed to pull up before the end would have been interesting had it occured at 100ft.
About time they got some reprimanded.