PNG Aviation
📷: 3. Government station from the air in PNG, 1975.
I served as a Patrol Officer / Assistant District Officer in Papua New Guinea between 1964 and 1975. It was notable that aviation was, and still is the most essential mode of transport in PNG. TAA and Ansett were the major carries at that time but many other smaller operators such as MacAir, TAL and Missionary Aviation Federation were also present. Because of the terrain and the climate tragic accidents did occur, but mainly to the smaller aircraft.
These are a few of the photos I took whist there. The first is TAA Sunbird Services DC3 loading at Rabaul in preparation for the twice weekly service to Bougainville. Picture taken late 1964. The second is of a Sikorsky helicopter that crashed on take off at the Bougainville Copper mining camp near Kieta in 1965. Amazingly no one was hurt but parts of the aircraft were found embedded in trees for quite a distance away from the crash. The third is of the Government station from the air in 1975. The altitude was around 7000 feet and the airstrip was one way only due to the angle of slope and a cliff at the end.
Submitted by Roger Dargie
