Commission to release preliminary report on probe into plane crash

A PRELIMINARY report on the investigation into the aircraft accident which occurred on July 26 involving a Cessna 402C aircraft near Papa Lealea, Central, will be released today, an official says.
Chief commissioner of the PNG Accident Investigation Commission (AIC) Hubert Namani said his organisation was independent from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority of PNG (CASA PNG).
He said AIC was conducting an investigation to determine the circumstances and causes of the occurrence with a view to avoiding similar occurrences in the future.
He said AIC reports were confined to matters of safety significance concerning the crash.
“In accordance with the national legislation and international obligations, the AIC conducts investigations with complete independence from any judicial, police or administrative investigation that can be conducted for purposes other than safety,” Namani said.
He said as part of PNG’s international obligations as a state signatory to the Convention on International Civil Aviation, a preliminary report shall be issued within 30 days from the date of an accident or a serious incident.
Namani said the AIC makes preliminary reports publicly available in its website: www.aic.gov.pg.
“The preliminary report is entirely based on the evidence gathered at the initial stages of the investigation,” Namani said.
“Further stages of the process will include operational, technical, environmental and human aspects as appropriate to determine circumstances, causal and contributing factors and to identify opportunities for safety enhancement in the aviation system.”
Namani said the plane was an Australian registered aircraft crashed while trying to take off at an uncommissioned field near Papa Lealea at midday on July 26.
According to the initial investigation, the pilot said he had switched off the transponder after leaving Mareeba, Queensland, earlier that morning and sustained some damage to the left wing on landing.
The pilot stated that the aircraft was refueled and loaded with cargo by persons waiting on the ground.
The AIC became aware of the occurrence at around 6pm the same day and sent investigators out to the crash site the following day (July 27) to look into the incident.
“When AIC investigators arrived, local police with Australian Federal Police (AFP) were already at the site,” Namani said.
He said the AIC investigators subsequently commenced an onsite investigation.