Heavylift crash
 

Have heard from aviation friends in Moresby that a Hevilift Twotter headed to Kokoda with 8 pob crashed 30 nm off Moresby - 4 dead including the two pilots, 3 injured and 1 still missing.

Very sad news indeed

Sad News - Heavylift crash
 

A Hevilift Twin Otter is down sadly. :\

HEVILIFT. (Previously Regional Air)

Very sad. Good company with good aircraft and good training. It'll be interesting to find out what happened.

Heavylift Crash?
 

Is Hevilift a follow-on company from HeavyLift CA, please?

No it's not.

The old Hevilift doesn't exist. Hevilift was taken over in 2004 by Regional Air. I can say Without reservation that when I was with Regional/Hevilift, the company had a better attitude toward maintenance, training and general operational safety than the major Australian airlines that I've worked for since, including a jet operator. I trusted these guys with my life. There was no better operator in PNG.

I've also worked with Bill Seneka from the Accident Investigation Commission, who has been quoted as saying that weather was a contributing factor.

Good to see the mods removed all the posts about who the crew was and the (possible?) negativity about the company. I also flew for the company in a previous life and have a vested interest in this accident. Couldn't agree more with psycho joe's comments.

Exactly where did the aircraft crash, Mt Lawes or up in the Owen Stanley's?

Another sad event
Was this a IFR or VFR flight

This follows 2 fatal helicopter accidents since 2011. Lost some former colleagues and friends in those accidents.

Captain was a good man. Will miss him. If anyone has details of funeral proceedings please PM.

R.I.P old buddy.

Well done to the New Zealand & PNG Soldiers

RIP
R W

NZ soldiers help plane crash survivors | Stuff.co.nz

New Zealand soldiers on a secret jungle training mission in Papua New Guinea have played a key role in rescuing survivors from a fatal plane crash on Saturday.
A Papua New Guinean pilot, her Australian co-pilot and two other PNG nationals died when a Twin Otter owned by third-level airline HeviLift crashed into the mountainside on Mount Lawes at Laloki as it was flying toward the capital, Port Moresby.
Five PNG nationals survived.
The PNG Post-Courier reported today that the critically injured were helped by New Zealand soldiers.
They had been conducting a joint training exercise with the PNG Defence Forces at Goldie River Army Training Barracks, just below the mountain.
"Because of the secret nature of the joint PNG-New Zealand defence forces training exercise on Saturday, the media was told not to get photographs of the soldiers bringing out the injured from the wreckage," the Post-Courier reported.
A soldier said they were conducting their training in bush under the mountain when they heard a loud bang at around 9.30am.
"The top of the mountain was covered in mist and we could not see anything, so we called Jackson Airport and they told us that there was a (plane) crash," a soldier said.
"We rushed to the site with our medics, both from PNG and New Zealand Army, and we were able to rescue the six passengers.
"One died soon after.The newspaper said the soldiers would only talk so long as they were not named.
"Our hierarchy confirmed that there was a crash and we were directed to provide assistance and rescue those on board the ill-fated plane," one soldier said.
Because of the thick fog, vegetation and the rugged terrain on the mountain top the helicopter could not land near the crash site so they had to use their four-wheel drive vehicles and then make it on foot to the crash site, which is about a three-hour walk for an ordinary person.
For the soldiers, it was less than an hour.The New Zealand Defence Force has made no comment on the incident.
New Zealand forces frequently exercise in PNG and their presence is usually widely publicised.

It is so sad that crew should lose their lives on a non-threatning training mission,

Heavylift crash
 

..........

Radix, it appears daikilo has only read the first paragraph above :ugh:

Any news on who the captain was?

I believe his initials are "L R".
A friendly sound professional when I knew him.
R.I.P. mate.

212bm

L R
 

Unbelievable if it is the "LR" I know. Survived a Helio-Courier engine failure in the Tadji area early 70s, trained him in Air Niugini late 70s before he went to East/West late 70s. Been with Hevilift last 15yrs. I figured the accident aircraft for Yongai via the Gap. Somebody tell me otherwise??????

Unfortunately I think it's the same LR mate.

Last week a local newspaper reported that the aircraft had a CVR and forward looking camera fitted to it, hopefully these devices will provide some valuable information to the investigators to help understand what may have caused the accident.

From a long time PNG [still] pilot:

Have a look at the PNG AIC's website, seems like they have been busy with very little government financial support again.......................

Especially considering that aviation accidents in PNG are a regular occurrence which generally result in fatalities.

Come on, this government organisation requires continuous ongoing funding together with CASA PNG to attract and retain suitable qualified personnel. Is PNG an ICAO compliant state??? If so about time ICAO had a closer look. Imagine an overflying 400 seat jet crashing in PNG in the wee hours of the morning in the Owen Stanley's or anywhere else, who's going to do the SAR let alone the rescue and subsequent investigation? It's a real possibility!