In relation to the Strickland Bosavi Foundation Cessna U206G aircraft incident, Acting Chief Commissioner of the PNG Accident Investigation Commission (AIC), Captain Aria Bouraga, MBE today announced the public release of the Preliminary Report, AIC 23 – 1004.
According to AIC’s Occurrence Details, the Strickland Bosavi Foundation Cessna U206G aircraft, registered VH-MZL sustained substantial damage On 7 June 2023, at about 15:10 local time. It was stated that while conducting a private VFR2 flight from Dodomona Airstrip3 to Mougulu Airstrip, in Western Province, Papua New Guinea, during the take-off roll, the pilot aborted the takeoff due to his perception of a lack of acceleration. As the pilot applied braking to stop the aircraft on the strip it skidded and veered towards the left side of the strip.
The pilot said that he attempted to bring the aircraft back towards the centerline following his decision to abort because he was aware of two houses on the left side of the end of the strip.
That manoeuvre was unsuccessful and the aircraft slid off the end of the strip down a steep embankment and overturned coming to rest inverted.
Fortunately, none of the four persons reported onboard, three passengers including the pilot, sustained injuries.
“It is the policy of the AIC to publicly release a preliminary investigation report for each accident or serious incident being investigated within 30 days of the occurrence date pursuant to requirements of Annex 13 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation”, Captain Bouraga explained.
“The analysis, findings, safety action taken, and any recommendations to address safety concerns will be included in the Final Report,” Bouraga said.
The AIC investigation will determine the circumstances and contributing factors to ensure all safety lessons which can help improve aviation safety are learned.
