PNG plane crash bodies recovered

Liam Fox, Port Moresby

Last Updated: Thu, 2 Sep 2010 21:52:00 +1000

The remains of the four people killed in this week's plane crash in Papua New Guinea have been recovered.

Australian investigators will help PNG counterparts investigate the crash.

Three members of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau will head to the accodent site on remote Misima Island.

PNG's Accident Investigation Commission asked for help to examine Tuesday's fatal incident that claimed the lives of three Australians and a New Zealander.

The sole survivor, a New Zealand man, was flown to Australia yesterday with serious bruising and a broken leg.

Interim

PNG's Accident Investigation Commission has only two investigators. But it says an interim report should be ready in four weeks.

It is yet to deliver its final report into the plane crash that killed 13 people, including nine Australians, near Kokoda last year.

The remains of the victims of Tuesday's disaster were flown into Port Moresby and taken to a funeral home in a convoy of buses and ambulances.

Their small Trans Air jet they were in overshot the runway on Misima Island, crashed into trees and burst into flames.

The Australian victims are marine pilot Chris Hart, Trans Air co-owner Les Wright and Darren Moore, who is believed to have been working for PNG's Civil Aviation Authority.

Survivor, co-pilot Kelby Cheyne, 25, is recovering in a Townsville hospital.

It has been reported that islanders pulled him from the wreckage of the plane before it exploded.