De La Salle Secondary School in Port Moresby today commemorated its 45th Anniversary of a plane crash that killed 21 students and 4 Royal Australian Air-Force crew members.
The Caribou Crash, as it is called today, is remembered every August and is recorded as one of the most devastating air plane accidents in the history of the Australian Air Force in Papua New Guinea.
The 21 students were part of an education system in the 1970s where schools throughout the country were involved in military cadet-ship programs.
On this day, 45 years ago, they left Lae after a weeklong training but did not arrive in Port Moresby. The DHC-4 Caribou Australian Air-Force airplane they were travelling in crashed kilometres outside of Lae City.
Out of the 29 on board, 25 died and 4 survived. The four survivors have since passed away.
“The crash had a really huge impact on the school and the lives of our students and their families and every year we remember them when commemorating the crash,” Head Teacher, James Ume said.
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Three of the four Survivors are still alive.