Flight History
On 6 February 2025, a De Havilland DHC-6-400 aircraft, registration P2-AXL, operated by Tropicair Limited, was conducting a flight to Kerema Airport in Gulf Province, Papua New Guinea. The flight path from descent below 5,000 feet to the airport is documented in Figure 2. The aircraft entered the circuit area for Kerema Airport (Figure 3). After landing on runway 14, the aircraft deviated from the runway centerline.
Accident Sequence
According to the investigation, the aircraft touched down and then began tracking along the runway. Tyre marks on the grass surface to the right of runway 14 (Figure 5) indicated that the aircraft left the paved surface, crossed the grass, and then turned left to re-enter the runway. During the landing roll, the aircraft experienced a yaw to the right, followed by a right drift and an overcorrection (Figure 15). The ground track leading to the accident is illustrated in Figure 14.
The aircraft eventually departed the runway again and came to rest with its nose landing gear bogged in a drainage ditch adjacent to the runway (Figure 17). Structural damage occurred to the nose section between fuselage stations 40.00 and 60.00, showing deformation and deterioration (Figure 16).
Aircraft and Crew
The aircraft was a De Havilland DHC-6-400 (Table 5). Information on the pilot in command and co-pilot is provided in Tables 3 and 4. The operator, Tropicair Limited, had established crew rostering practices and a Safety Management System (SMS), as described in Section 1.17.
Weather and Airport
Figure 9 shows cloud cover southeast of the aerodrome towards runway 32, shortly after the accident. Kerema Airport (AYKM) is located in Gulf Province (Figure 10), with an aerial view shown in Figure 11.
Flight Recorders
Both flight recorders were recovered and downloaded at the AIC Flight Recorder Laboratory (Figure 12). Data from 1,000 feet AMSL to impact is shown in Figure 13.
Evacuation and Damage
Passengers evacuated the aircraft using the door indicated in Figure 18, and baggage was retrieved from the baggage compartment. No fire occurred (Section 1.14). The damage assessment and apron recovery are documented in Appendix B.