Inau said the twin-engine Britten Norman Islander aircraft that was operated by Vanimo-based Sunbird Aviation, was only 33 seconds away from landing or 1200 metres short from the runway.
“On the final approach, the aircraft was seen to have pitched up and then entered into a spiral descent and ended up crashing.”
He said the process of investigation has started, which will be long and tedious due to the fact that smaller aircraft of this category by law are not fitted with a cockpit voice recording device.