Acting Board Chairman of the PNG Accident Investigation Commission (AIC), Captain Aria Bouraga MBE, recently published the Final Report into the investigation of the Serious Incident involving a Daher Kodiak 100 aircraft operated by New Tribes Mission Aviation PNG that took place on the 27th of April last year.
The aircraft sustained structural damage in flight about 6 nautical miles (NM) Northeast of Hoskins Airport.
The Final Report stated that the four fastening screws, three at the airflow critical front edge of the wing panel may not have been installed or they may have been threaded by hand into each nut plate, but not appropriately tightened during the last maintenance and dislodged during subsequent flights.
In-flight airflow and vibrations including those sustained during takeoffs and landing on unpaved rural airstrips would have been sufficient for those screws to becoming lose and dislodged due to vibrations resulting in the left upper wing root fairing detaching in flight and damaging the left inboard leading edge of the horizontal stabilizer upon contact.
The report further mentioned that onboard was the pilot in command (PIC) and a pilot under instruction, with no injuries sustained.
The AIC was notified of the accident a day after the occurrence and immediately commenced an investigation in accordance with its mandate under the Civil Aviation Act 2000 and pursuant to ICAO Annex 13 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation.
