Accident Investigation Commission

Helicopter Accident To Be Investigated

The helicopter, a MIL MI8 helicopter registered P2-MHM, is owned by Captston Aviation PTE Ltd and operated by Hevilift Aviation Ltd.

Chief Commissioner of the PNG AIC, Hubert Namani said in a media statement that on 15 May 2021 at about 11:30am, the helicopter took-off from Gobo in a cargo flight to Mount Hagen, Western Highlands Province.

Gulf aircraft crash update

The report releases the occurrence details of the accident north west of Baimuru Airstrip on the 29th of August 2019.

The Air Tractor AT-502B aircraft is registered as P2-SET, and was operated by Ramu – Agriculture Industries.

According to the AIC preliminary report, the Air Tractor AT-502B aircraft was conducting a VFR1 ferry flight from Daru in Western Province to Gusap in Madang Province, when it impacted a tree near the Era River, about 6.8 nautical miles North-West of Baimuru Airstrip.

AIC has new commissioners, CEO

At today’s press conference, Civil Aviation Minister Alfred Manase said on November 6th, the National Executive Council approved the appointment of Captain Aria Bouraga as a commissioner and deputy chairman of the PNG Accident Investigation Commission board, and Captain Andui Koralyo as a commissioner and member of the board.

He said both are highly experienced pilots.

“Recently we’ve had some difficulty in terms of proper corporate governance in that we did not have a full board managing the affairs of this organisation,” stated Manase.

AIC will not probe aircraft destruction

AIC Chief Commissioner Hubert Namani said the AIC was promptly notified about the Mendi riots last Thursday afternoon and the substantial damage to Mendi town and airport infrastructure, including the aircraft.

Namani said in accordance with International Standards, this is not an air safety matter because the aircraft was parked and the engines were shut down.

However, he said it is an extremely serious aviation security occurrence and a criminal act warranting police and aviation security investigation due to it occurring on an airport.

Commission’s recommendations remain for PNGDF

The recommendations from AIC resulted from an investigation into the operations of CASA after it breached a few Civil Aviation Safety regulations.  

The Papua New Guinea Defence Force is not subjected to Civil Aviation Rules and Regulations however, AIC Chief Commissioner, Hubert Namani, says its operations are a risk to civil aviation.  

“I’ve raised concerns directly with the Commander of PNG Defence Force, he has responded,” Namani stated.

“We can only make recommendations and we have raised serious safety concerns.

New crop of trainee air investigators to be appointed

Accident Investigation Commission (AIC) Chief Executive Officer, David Inau, revealed during the recent Civil Aviation Conference in Port Moresby that trainee investigators will be appointed by mid-2017.

Inau said this is the direction the AIC is taking for the future.

He said currently a diploma level safety investigation course is being modified for the AIC from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau’s (ATSB) Transport Safety Diploma course.

Inau said the trainees will be mentored by an in-house trainer who is on contract for a three year term.

Difficult to measure accidents within industry, says Inau

This is according to David Inau, Chief Executive Officer for the Accident Investigation Commission [AIC] of the PNG Civil Aviation Safety Authority [CASA].

Inau says that AIC did not provide statistics during a presentation at the high-llevel civil aviation safety and security conference because there are no trends in PNG aviation. This is due to several factors, including the period in between when accidents and or incidents occur, and the varied difference of each case.

Commission still working on Kiunga accident

The CEO of the commission, Captain David Inau, travelled to Singapore last week to attend the triennial International Accident Investigation Forum, from  April 19-21, at the invitation of the Singapore Ministry of Transport.

The meeting was hosted by the Singapore Aviation Academy and was attended by delegates from around the world.