Transcript
A team from PNG' s Accident Investigation Commission arrived in Chuuk yesterday to begin to piece together what happened with Flight PX73. Air Niugini says the plane landed just short of the runway amid poor visibility due to bad weather, coming to rest in the water. But, according to one of the passengers, Dr Victor Wasson from Micronesia, the plane overshot the runway.
"It was a little bit rainy, and there was some cloud cover, so the pilot unfortunately couldn't see the landing strip. So he overflew the landing strip and we crashed into the water, about 150 metres away from the rocks towards the end of the strip."
He and at least one other passenger say they were given very little warning from the crew. Another Micronesia-based survivor on the flight, Bill Jaynes, spoke on social media about the ordeal.
"It was just surreal. I thought we landed hard until I looked over and saw a hole in the side of the plane and water was coming in, and thought, 'this is not the way it's supposed to happen.' We came in low, very low. Unfortunately the flight attendants panicked and started yelling."
The 35 passengers and 12 crew were able to evacuate the aircraft, with the swift assistance of locals in small boats and some United States Navy divers who were close to the scene. The Chairman of Air Niugini, Sir Kostas Constantinou, has thanked them for their courageous rescue. In a statement last night, he said it was of great concern to learn that one of the passengers on the flight was unaccounted for.
"An inspection of the entire submerged cabin of the aircraft by the US Navy seals, further corroborated by other eye witness reports who saw the passenger board one of the dinghies on Friday, has confirmed that all passengers safely evacuated the aircraft at the time of the accident."
Local authorities and the airline are continuing to search for the whereabouts of the missing passenger. Meanwhile, most of the passengers and crew arrived back in Port Moresby on Sunday night. Four passengers who were hospitalised in Chuuk have now been transported to Guam for further treatment.