By PETER KORUGL
A MOROBE man was beheaded when he ran into the spinning propellers of a light plane in the remote Kabwum airstrip last Saturday.
A crowd which often flocks to the airstrip in the event of an aircraft flying in and out of this remote Morobe outpost, watched in horror as the man ran onto the airstrip and met his gruesome death.
The Islander aircraft, owned by North Coast Aviation (NCA) had taken on passengers at Kabwum and was taxing down the airstrip bound for Wasu when the horrific incident occurred.
District administrator John Orebut said the man, in his mid fifties and married with three children, ran into the spinning left propeller of the plane and was decapitated.
“He died instantly,” he said.
“The agent of the NCA and some other people who were standing at the eastern end of the tarmac areas saw him running towards the plane,” he said. “They shouted in an attempt to stop him but it was too late. They were some distance away and watched helplessly when he was struck down,” Mr Orebut said.
“I heard the screams from the people standing in front of my office and as I ran out, I was advised that Apo had run into the plane and was killed.
“I immediately got the police vehicle and rushed down to the airstrip.”
NCA’s Lae office was alerted by the pilot and sent in another plane with the chief pilot and a police investigator and Charlie Masange from the Provincial Disaster Centre to assess and report on the incident.
This is the second time a man was killed this way at the Kabwum airstrip and the Provincial Disaster Centre was urging people to keep away from the planes and runways in all airstrips throughout the province.