Airlines PNG Flight 1600

Airlines PNG Flight 1600

The wreckage of Flight 1600 at the crash site, as illustrated in the final report
Accident
Date	13 October 2011 (2011-10-13)
Summary	Forced landing following dual propeller failure
Site	35 km south of Madang Airport, Papua New Guinea 5°30′32″S 145°53′47″E / 5.50889°S 145.89639°E / -5.50889; 145.89639
Aircraft
Aircraft type	de Havilland Canada DHC-8-103
Operator	Airlines PNG
IATA flight No.	CG1600
ICAO flight No.	TOK1600
Call sign	BALUS 1600
Registration	P2-MCJ
Flight origin	Lae Nadzab Airport, Papua New Guinea
Destination	Madang Airport, Papua New Guinea
Occupants	32
Passengers	29
Crew	3
Fatalities	28
Injuries	4
Survivors	4

On 13 October 2011, Airlines PNG Flight 1600, a Dash 8 regional aircraft on a flight from Lae to Madang, Papua New Guinea, crash-landed in a forested area near the mouth of the Guabe River,^[1] after losing all engine power. Only 4 of the 32 people on board survived.^[2][3] It is the deadliest plane crash in the history of Papua New Guinea.^[4]

The subsequent investigation found that the flight crew had inadvertently retarded the throttle levers below the lowest position allowable in flight (known as flight idle), causing both propellers to overspeed and leading to a complete loss of engine power. A 'beta lockout' mechanism that would have prevented the overspeed even in case of erroneous power lever setting was available but not installed on the accident aircraft. Installation of such mechanism became subsequently mandatory on all DHC-8 aircraft worldwide.^[5]