Port Moresby – Bwagaoia

On August 31, 2010 at 04:15 PM, Port Moresby – Bwagaoia experienced a crash involving Cessna 550 Citation II, operated by Trans Air - Papua New Guinea, with the event recorded near Bwagaoia (Misima Island) Milne Bay.

The flight was categorized as charter/taxi (non scheduled revenue flight) and the reported phase was landing (descent or approach) at a airport (less than 10 km from airport) crash site.

5 people were known to be on board, 4 fatalities were recorded, 1 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 80.0%.

Crew on board: 2, crew fatalities: 1, passengers on board: 3, passenger fatalities: 3, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. The aircraft was conducting a charter flight from Jackson’s International Airport, Port Moresby, National Capital District, Papua New Guinea (PNG), to Bwagaoia Aerodrome, Misima Island, Milne Bay Province, PNG (Misima). There were two pilots and three passengers on board for the flight. The approach and landing was undertaken during a heavy rain storm over Bwagaoia Aerodrome at the time, which resulted in standing water on the runway. This water, combined with the aircraft’s speed caused the aircraft to aquaplane. There was also a tailwind, which contributed the aircraft to landing further along the runway than normal. The pilot in command (PIC) initiated a baulked landing procedure. The aircraft was not able to gain flying speed by the end of the runway and did not climb. The aircraft descended into terrain 100 m beyond the end of the runway. The aircraft impacted terrain at the end of runway 26 at 1615:30 PNG local time and the aircraft was destroyed by a post-impact, fuel-fed fire. The copilot was the only survivor. Other persons who came to assist were unable to rescue the remaining occupants because of fire and explosions in the aircraft. The on-site evidence and reports from the surviving copilot indicated that the aircraft was serviceable and producing significant power at the time of impact. Further investigation found that the same aircraft and PIC were involved in a previous landing overrun at Misima Island in February 2009.

Aircraft reference details include registration P2-TAA, MSN 550-0145, year of manufacture 1980.