Operation Kokoda Assist Update
13 August 2009
Australian Defence Force (ADF) aircraft and personnel have now commenced assisting Papua New Guinean authorities in the difficult task of recovering the remains of those that died in the Airlines PNG crash near Kokoda on Tuesday.
Now that the crash site has been located, the ADF is concentrating on supporting the Disaster Victim Identification team and the PNG authorities' work at the crash site and the recovery of the victims.
Work has started on cutting a helicopter landing pad, close to the crash site, to allow helicopter operations.
Once the helicopter pad is prepared, the Disaster Victim Identification team will be deployed to the site. They will be sustained at the site by helicopters, including two ADF Black Hawks, which arrived in Port Moresby by C-17 Globemaster last night, and are now operational.
The recovery of the victims will be a priority once the Disaster Victim Identification team is in place.
With the arrival of the Army Black Hawks, the Navy Sea King helicopter has been re-embarked in HMAS Success, which has now been released to continue on with its previous tasking.
Commander of the Australian Task Force, Wing Commander David Howard, says his team brings important capabilities and is committed to the mission.
"We left Richmond to bring our aeromedical evacuation capability to Papua New Guinea, to assist with the recovery of survivors from the Twin Otter crash. Now that we are in the tragic situation where we find there are no survivors, we're still committed to help in any way we can," Wing Commander Howard said.
"Over the next couple of days we are committed to providing support to those activities at the site and expect to be ferrying people to and from the site and providing supplies to help them get on with their jobs.
"We're still working full steam ahead to bring all of our capabilities online and to offer those capabilities in whatever manner the PNG Government and the Australian High Commission requires."
The deployed ADF assets will be constantly reviewed to ensure that they remain ready and relevant to the operation. Adjustments to the force structure will be made to enable the most effective use of Australian assets.
This incident follows the Australian Defence Force assistance to Tongan and New Zealand authorities, in the search for the sunken ferry MV Princess Ashika.
