Spanish engineers will help lift plane

 ENGINEERS from Avions De Trans­port Regional in Spain have arrived in Madang to help lift the P2-PXY cargo plane out of Meiro Creek, next to the Madang Airport.

The ATR-42-320F failed to take off from the Madang Airport last Saturday morning, crashing into the creek.

Two investigators from the Papua New Guinea Accident Investigation Commission were on the ground pro­bing the crash.

Air Niugini yesterday said in an email: “The issue is still under investigations and Air Niugini will not make any comments at this stage.”

Accident Investigation Commission chief executive officer Capt David Inau confirmed the developments late yesterday afternoon soon after arriving from Madang.

“It is still too early to make assumptions on the state of the aeroplane as we wait for a job appraisal to be carried out,” he said. 

“Parts have to be salvaged and removed to rebuild for a complete assessment to be done.”

Inau’s comments were in res­ponse to a posting by the Flight Safety Foundation’s Aviation Safety Network yesterday that the P2-PXY cargo plane was damaged beyond repair and would be written off.

The posting claimed the plane, destined for Tabubil, Western, was carrying 3,500kgs of cigarettes, some of which were looted by settlers, while the rest were still inside the submerged plane.

However, Inau said the loading data was yet to be determined as checks were still being carried out with the organisations involved in the freighting service.