Airlink Crash

Can anybody point me to official news reports/stories about the Airlink crash that has grounded the airline? I've heard conflicting stories about a pilot being grounded and fatalities. Thanks.

Jo

i heard that airlink will be not flighing for 1 month... that month is over now..but i dont know whats happening now..

i have a pic of the last airlink crash at goroka airport - i was early mornig and foggy so the pilot tried to land on the wrong direction of the runway (the way normaly the planes take off) , so he was to fast as the runway goes down a little bit - look HERE what happend !

Pretty ugly sight!

There were two crashes, the first in early April was fatal and both pilots died. No passengers were on board. This happened in West New Britain I think.

The second crash happened in Goroka where the pilot landed the wrong way, there is a significant slope on the runway which means planes can only land one-way.

I hope Airlink start flying again soon, they are the only air serive into many areas.

WHAT???
As a pilot/Captian with over 9,000 hours I cannot believe your death wish PNGMangi! Flying is safer than having a bath, but when you have Aircraft Operators such as AirLink being "cowboys" with inadequate training / experience etc. etc. the odds go against you. Why can't there be a safe proper Air operation in P.N.G. to replace AirLink??

I've known a few Airlink pilots in my time up here and they all seem to be very compotent pilots. The pilot who landed the wrong way in Goroka won't be flying anytime soon (I hear he's decided on a career change). I've flown with them quite a bit and never had a problem apart from the odd delay.

Hopefully the 'new & improved' Airlink will be a lot better than the original. There is talk of the ATR coming back which would be great. I understand that they are using the grounding to completely overhaul the business to make it a lot safer.

I'm really keen to get to Vanimo/Jayapura soon for a long weekend. The only way at the moment is via Air Niugini and it takes an extra day/night. Airlink used to get you there in a day and the flight was spectacular as it flew along the coast from Lae via Madang, Wewak and Tadji.

Fundamental Managerial problem with two crashes close togeather, it is not like they had one hundred or more aircraft. Insurance will be prohibitive for them now, maybe they will try to fly without it?

So I heard they are flying again...but not in or out of Mt. Hagen. Can anyone confirm?

Heard yesterday that Airlink have ceased operations for good.

Hopefully another airline can start up soon and take over some of the routes. They may have had some safety issues but they also provided an important link for many in Niugini and the Highlands.

It's true that the Airlink management were told by the owner of Airlink (Mal Kela Smith) that they should close down as the financiers in Australia were not going to finance Airlink anymore. Both my parents work for Airlink and were saddened by the news as there will now be over 300 workers throughout the nation without jobs. I am very sorry about this because it is true that the old management was quite corrupt but once the new CEO came in and sacked those responsible for a lot of the problems Airlink had, things were starting to look up for the company. The management has been deeply disappointed because they worked for more almost sixty days to revamp things and even review salaries as all the workers have not had their salaries reviewed for almost six years. Last monday they were given their license to commence work and then the Friday of the same week, they were told to close down for good. And that plane crash in West New Britain where the two pilots died was not pilot error or engine failure. It was something more sinister but that will be exposed once the management seeks legal advice. There are a lot of good people and pilots working for Airlink and just when the "bad apples" were removed, this had to happen. It's quite sad.

When you think of the amount of passengers and cargo that were transported daily by Airlink you would have to think that another airline would either start up on Airlinks old routes or an existing third level airline would step in.

Hopefully this will lead to some of the now redundent Airlink staff becoming re-employed. The fantastic ladies at Goroka airport come to mind.

I can confirm that Airlink has ceased operations.

Incidentally, Airways PNG don't service all the airports they once did and have been on reduced routes for the last 2 months. Email them for a list of current routes.