'Captain Cautious' fights for life after PNG crash

Pilot Richard Leahy was transferred to Royal Brisbane Hospital with serious burns. (http://www.pacificwrecks.org: Justin Taylan)

ABC

An investigation is underway into a plane crash in Papua New Guinea that has killed six people and left their Australian pilot in a serious condition in a Brisbane hospital.
Four adults and two children died when the Cessna 185 came down while heading to a remote airstrip in the Sarawaget mountain ranges of the Morobe province yesterday.
Sydney-born Richard Leahy, 68, who owns Kiunga Aviation, was the sole survivor.
His son Nicholas Leahy says his father was airlifted to Brisbane for treatment.
"He's in a serious condition. He's in the Royal Brisbane Hospital in the trauma unit," he said.
"He's got burns to 46 per cent of his body, he's also got a fracture in his spine. Most of the burns to his body are third-degree burns and he's being operated on as we speak."
It is believed the plane may have had engine trouble.
Nicholas Leahy says his father is an experienced and well-respected pilot.
"Dad's been flying up here for 40 plus years," he said.
"You'd be hard-pressed to find another bush pilot in New Guinea that's got more experience than him, especially in the mountain range which is his local area. His nick-name is Captain Cautious."
Morobe provincial police commander Peter Guinness, police and medical officers were flown to the accident site on Wednesday to retrieve the remains and wreckage, The National newspaper reported.
"The plane was completely shattered and we could not do much," he said.
No immediate cause for the crash has been offered because conditions in the area were considered fine.
"We will wait for the Civil Aviation Authority to do their investigation," he said.
Over the past few decades Mr Leahy, who lives at Lae, has been involved in the discovery of dozens of WWII wreck sites in PNG.
He has worked closely with the US Army CILHI, recovering the remains of troops missing in action and returning them to the United States.
It is the second plane crash in PNG this year after a plane came down in the Kokoda area in August, killing 13 people including nine Australians.

Aussie pilot Richard Leahy critical after PNG plane crash

By Ilya Gridneff and Peter Veness of AAP in Port Moresby

- Aussie pilot badly burnt in PNG crash
- Passengers were all PNG citizens
- Cause of plane crash not yet known

SIX people are dead and their Australian pilot is fighting for his life in hospital after their light plane crashed in Papua New Guinea.
Australian pilot Richard Leahy, who runs Kiunga Aviation, was flying the plane yesterday when the engine caught fire above the mountainous terrain of Morobe Province, on PNG's northwest coast.
Leahy, 68, survived the crash but is fighting for his life in a Brisbane hospital.
The plane had departed from Nadzab and was flying to the Baindoang airstrip when it crashed.
Nicholas Leahy, Richard's son, told AAP his father had reported "a loss of all pressure and total engine failure".
Richard Leahy is being treated for severe burns.
"He's in the trauma ward of the Royal Brisbane Hospital," Nicholas said.
"He's got third degree burns to 47 per cent of his body and he's got a fracture in his spine."
The passengers were all PNG citizens. There were four adults and two children.
The deadly crash comes five months after the Airline PNG Twin Otter tragedy in the Kokoda on August 11 that claimed 13 lives, including nine Australians on their way to trek the Kokoda Track.
Morobe provincial police commander Peter Guinness, police and medical officers were flown to the accident site yesterday to retrieve the remains and wreckage, The National newspaper reported.
"The plane was completely shattered and we could not do much."
No immediate cause for the crash has been offered because conditions in the area were considered fine.
"We will wait for the Civil Aviation Authority to do their investigation," he said.

Map of yesterday's plane crash site in Papua New Guinea

First pictures of yesterday's plane crash in Papua New Guinea

Pictures by BUSTIN ANZU of the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary

Papua New Guinea air crash kills six

Police, villagers and rescuers looking on as Morobe provincial police commander Insp Peter Guiness (left) takes a closer look at the tail section of the plane which crashed at the Bengun hillside yesterday morning after retrieving bodies of those who died as well as airlifting the injured pilot to Lae for further medical treatment.

Six people were tragically killed when a Cessna 185 fixed wing aircraft, owned by Kiunga Aviation, crashed early yesterday in the rugged Saruwaged mountain ranges of Morobe province, Papua New Guinea, The National reports.
All six passengers, including two children, died instantly on impact.
Amazingly the pilot Richard Leahy, who owns the third level airline, survived but was in critical condiction.
The plane departed Nadzab and was headed for Baidoang airstrip when it crashed.
The charred bodies of those killed are now at the Angau Memorial Hospital morgue in Lae while Mr Leahy was evacuated to Australia for medical attention.
The 63-year-old pilot was found by locals, screaming for help near the wreckage, shortly after the crash.
The bodies of the passengers were retrieved by a search and rescue team led by Lae police and medical personnel.
Information received from the ground pinpointed the Bengun hillside, located between Gumbun and Tanam villages as the crash site.
The rugged location is about a three-hour walk from Boana, the Nawaeb district station, and is 17 nautical miles northeast of Nadzab airport.
At this stage, there are no definite leads to the cause of the crash, but engine failure is highly suspected as the weather was fine and Mr Leahy has a wealth of flying experience in PNG.

Hitchiker

From PAUL OATES

We've just had some rain and I was about to attach the grader blade to the tractor to regrade the gravel on some of the roads when I noticed a hitchhiker had decided to get out of the rain.

A balanced Papua New Guinea budget for 2010?

By REG RENAGI

The PNG government claims it will have a balanced budget next year. The opposition party has further highlighted many key areas the government has missed out, or given low priority to in its 2010 Money Plan.

Many sectors are also complaining our next years' budget is far from being a balanced budget. What is a balanced budget anyway? Assessing any government budget will always been a subjective assessment.

Every government will always claim they have a balanced budget. There is no such thing as a balanced budget as many critics will always pick holes in any budget. They will always find many needy areas that the government has missed out on when drawing up its budget plan.

In future, the government must substantially do more other than say it has a balanced budget. Many priority areas are underfunded from previous years. There are important fundamental areas a budget must always cover are missed for a whole range of reasons. Successive governments have done this, even the opposition now picking holes in next year’s budget.

In addition, I suggest our government must do some required readjustments in 2010. It must complement any good budget by ensuring to put in place some effective mechanisms to achieve good financial management and accountability.

For many years, I see one great barrier that has prevented successive PNG Governments from addressing the real world issues of job creation, urban migration, health care and education, and that is our country's weak; and fragile fiscal position. In 2010, the government can increase PNG's revenue stream through developing new business opportunities in industry and other targeted government investment.

In addition, the government must do more than increased revenues. It should first of all put PNG's 'Fiscal House' in order that will always require sound fiscal management of government's current expenses. Its fiscal policies should be aimed to keep a tight rein on government spending, and refocus new spending to key priority areas that will boost sustainable economic growth.

The government must also provide real financial management, real transparency and real accountability. A new approach must now be found to stabilize the government's fiscal position.

I suggest next year, our government should try some future strategies like keeping real program expenditures constant by limiting the annual growth in spending to the anticipated growth in inflation. Any new needs that arise must be reasonably accommodated within this budget constraint.

The government must also ensure value for money by eliminating ineffective and inefficient programs. To do this, it should set objectives for program spending and tracking results. Another financial strategy is stopping the practice of year-end spending to use up unspent budgetary allocations, and assign any unanticipated budget surplus to debt reduction. So by reviewing financing arrangements to service the country's debt, the government can also immediately review all financing arrangements in all departments to cut the country’s debt; and reduce interest cost.

For many years now, governments spend up to some eighty per cent of its budget towards salaries and employee benefits. In the next five to ten years it must use this period to rationalize the workforce by reducing the size of its public sector workforce through rationalization strategies like: natural attrition, retraining for redeploying into the private sector.

Another good future strategy is to conduct a review of all government vehicle fleet and determine how many are necessary for government operations and downsize accordingly. Thus, by doing a further cost benefit study; it will be able to accurately determine whether these vehicles should be purchased or leased. All travel expenditures for elected and non-elected officials must also be reviewed and reduced.