Kiunga Aviation P2-MJL
Kiunga Aviation Cessna 185 P2-MJL was a passenger flight which crashed in the Saruwaged Range of Morobe Province of Papua New Guinea on the morning of 30 December 2009, [...] all six passengers and severely injuring the pilot.
It was the second worst air accident in Papua New Guinea in 2009 after 13 people died aboard Airlines PNG Flight 4684 in August.
Pilot and passengers
All six passengers, including two children, were killed instantly on impact. The bodies of the passengers were located by a search and rescue party before being relocated to the Angau Memorial Hospital at Lae.
The pilot, 68 year old Richard Leahy (son of explorer Mick Leahy), was found severely injured at the site and taken to Lae before being evacuated to Australia. According to Leahy's son, he had suffered "third degree burns to forty seven per cent of his body" and also suffered "a fracture in his L12 spine".
Aircraft history
On 5 March 1979, while operated by COAIR, Cessna 185 P2-MJL flipped upside down on take off from Kisengan strip. The wheels had apparently sunk into soft ground, flipping the aircraft end over end. There were three people on board though none were injured.