ID :
213199
Fri, 10/28/2011 - 12:52
Auther :

Airlines PNG cleared to fly

SYDNEY (AAP) - Oct 28 - Airlines PNG has blamed component failure for a crash that killed 28 people, but Papua New Guinea's Civil Aviation and Safety Authority says this is inaccurate because an investigation is not complete.
Airlines PNG (APNG) has announced it has been given permission to fly its Dash 8 fleet, which was grounded after one of the planes crashed with 32 people on board in dense forest near Madang on October 13.
Australian pilot Bill Spencer, 64, his New Zealand copilot Campbell Wagstaff, a crew member and a passenger were the only survivors of the crash.
In announcing the go-ahead to fly, the company said preliminary evidence in a report into the crash pointed to component failure.
"We have been assured that such a component failure can in no way be attributed to any maintenance regime, or operational procedures over which Airlines PNG has responsibility," Airlines PNG Chairman Simon Wild in a statement.
"The safety authorities have carried out the most thorough and rigorous investigation and tests, and they have established beyond doubt that our aircraft are absolutely safe to fly."
However, CASA chief operating officer John Bromley said a preliminary report into the crash did not cite component failure.
"The APNG statement in regards to there being a component failure being the cause of the accident is not accurate," Mr Bromley told AAP on Friday.
"It is premature. The investigation is not completed."
He said the airline had been given permission to resume using its Dash 8 fleet under strict conditions.
Mr Wild said CASA would be issuing an emergency airworthiness directive covering all operators using Dash 8 Series 100, 200 and 300 aircraft in PNG.
The directive will require all operators to install additional safety components across all Dash 8 aircraft.
The accident was PNG's worst since December 1994, when 28 people died in a Twin Otter crash near Olsobip, Western Province.




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