According to the PNG Accident Investigation Commission (AIC), a TropicAir Limited Twin Otter aircraft, DHC6-300, registered P2-BBM, encountered an accident at the Kikori Airstrip of Gulf Province on Saturday, June 8th 2024, 11:35am local time.
The Chief Commissioner of AIC Maryanne Wal said AIC was notified of the serious incident via phone call after the incident on the same day.
AIC reported that there were sixteen passengers on board including the two pilots however no one was injured.
It was reported that the aircraft was on an IFR passenger flight from Kerema to Kikori, during the landing roll at the Kikori Airstrip, the aircraft experienced a runway excursion, rolling past the left airstrip boundary, into the drainage ditch where the nose wheel partially bogged into the ground surface. The nose cone also impacted the ground before the aircraft came to a stop.
PNG AIC immediately deployed two investigators on site to begin investigations and observed that the damage to the aircraft was limited to the nose cone.
AIC regards this as a serious incident and will conduct an investigation in accordance with Annex 13 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation. The investigations will include but not be limited to the Aircraft and Pilot Performance, Airstrip Conditions, Weather, Maintenance and Serviceability of the aircraft, Organizational Aspects and Regulatory Oversight.
The investigation will identify the cause of the incident and factors surrounding it so that similar accidents can be avoided in the future.
