Report highlights loophole in aviation safety

THE final report into last December’s fatal aircraft accident in Morobe has identified a loophole in Papua New Guinea’s aviation safety effort – there is no established rescue coordination centre.
A rescue coordination centre is a primary search and rescue facility in a country that is staffed by supervisory personnel and equipped to coordinate and control search and rescue operations.
A Britten Norman BN-2A Islander craft crashed into a ridge at Sarawaget Rangers in Morobe on Dec 23 last year. Rescuers arrived at the accident on Dec 27, four days later, and reported that the pilot, the sole occupant, was dead.
They felled trees on the steep heavily timbered, densely vegetated slope about 20 metres from the wreckage and constructed a helipad.
Rescue turnaround time or help arriving at the site could have been less, if PNG had a fully, functional and operational rescue coordinating centre.
The centre would have had services as diverse as the Fire Services, PNG Defence Force, PNG Royal Constabulary, National Maritime Safety Authority, National Road Safety Authority, AIC, and health services among others thrown together in times of accidents, disaster and national emergencies to search, rescue and save lives.
At best these services exist in all but name only, lacking skilled manpower, essential equipment, and funds to carry out their fiduciary and humanitarian duties.
Accident Investigation Commission chairman Hubert Namani is right about establishing a rescue coordination centre in the country. He knows and others in his line of work will agree with him that such a body is needed. The AIC recommended that the Minister for Civil Aviation, in compliance with the Civil Aviation Act, ensures that a rescue coordination centre (RCC) is established, maintained and operated, to co-ordinate and conduct aviation search and rescue operations.
Maybe AIC should not only focus on aircraft accidents but rather all emergencies, rather than just one sector.
The centre as per directives from the minister will be operated and maintained by PNG Air Services Limited.
The coordination centre should also provide support to medical emergencies, maritime accident, bomb and security alerts on aircraft, tsunami and earthquakes and even search areas on request from land and water police.
Time and again bad accidents happening in-country have not been responded to by any competent or equipped party in the country.
While Namani’s call is in response to concerns in the aviation industry, we submit an actionable coordination centre catering for all accidents is more beneficial than merely covering one sector.
The Rabaul Queens sea disaster showed the lack of capacity and capability in the country to rescue our own nationals lost in accidents at sea.
The Madang PNG Air disaster among many others demonstrated the lack of capacity to respond to air disasters.
And the horrendous road traffic accidents where bodies and metal are enmeshed demanding expert rescue efforts to disentangle the mess indicate further lack of capacity in this area as well.
All accidents and emergencies often require cooperation and coordination between the diverse agencies named earlier. Most have complementary or overlapping responsibilities.
A coordination centre of the sort discussed should have information as regards terrain, seas, road conditions, weather, and tides at their fingertips.
Search and rescue, evacuation and other emergency procedures should be drummed out to the public in massive awareness campaigns all year long.
The whole issue requires a holistic approach and for this to be supported and funded by government so that we have the capability to launch sea, air, road, fire and natural disaster responses and
search and rescue at a moment’s notice.