Cessna Crash in the Sarawaget Range in Morobe, Papua New Guinea. Six dead. Pilot survives

Early this morning, a single engine Cessna 185 fixed wing aircraft, owned and operated by Kiunga Aviation, crashed in the Sarawaget Mountain ranges of Morobe Province, PNG. It crashed while attempting to land at Baindong, a remote airstrip seventeen nautical miles north east of the main airport of Nadzab. Six people, including an infant were killed instantly. The pilot survived and was transported to Australia for treatment. At about 0605hrs, the pilot of the aircraft, radiod the air traffic controllers to say it was in the vicinity of the remote srtip. Six minutes later it sent a distress call. There was no contact after that. Later, a Bell 206 helicopter which was operating in the area was able to reach the crash site with police personnel to assist with the recovery mission. The six bodies of the victims have been airlifted to Lae and are now in the morgue at Angau Memorial Hospital. The cause of the accident is not known at this stage. The Air Accident investigation Commission of the Department of Transport has been notified and will be conducting an investigation into the accident. My condolences go to their friends and family in this time of grief. This is the second major air disaster this year, the first on August 11 took away 11 lives, inlcuded the pilot and the first officer.