Airlines PNG Flight 1600
On 13 October 2011, Airlines PNG Flight 1600, a Dash 8 regional aircraft on a domestic flight from Lae to Madang, Papua New Guinea, crash-landed in a forested area near the mouth of the Guabe River, after losing all engine power. Only four of the 32 people on board survived. It was the deadliest plane crash in the history of Papua New Guinea.
The wreckage of Flight 1600 at the crash site, as illustrated in the final report | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | 13 October 2011 |
| Summary | Forced landing following dual propeller failure |
| Site | 35 km south of Madang Airport, Papua New Guinea 5°30′32″S 145°53′47″E |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | de Havilland Canada DHC-8-102 |
| Operator | Airlines PNG |
| IATA flight No. | CG1600 |
| ICAO flight No. | TOK1600 |
| Call sign | BALUS 1600 |
| Registration | P2-MCJ |
| Flight origin | Lae Nadzab Airport, Papua New Guinea |
| Destination | Madang Airport, Papua New Guinea |
| Occupants | 32 |
| Passengers | 29 |
| Crew | 3 |
| Fatalities | 28 |
| Injuries | 4 |
| Survivors | 4 |
The subsequent investigation found that the flight crew had inadvertently retarded the throttle levers below the lowest position allowable in flight (known as flight idle), causing both propellers to overspeed and leading to a complete loss of engine power. A 'beta lockout' mechanism that would have prevented the overspeed even in case of erroneous power lever setting was available but not installed on the accident aircraft. Installation of such mechanism became subsequently mandatory on all DHC-8 aircraft worldwide.