DEFENCE MEDIA RELEASE
Issued by Ministerial Support and Public Affairs, Department of Defence, Canberra, ACT
Phone: 02 6265 3343, Fax: 02 62656946
MSPA 263/09
Thursday, 13 August 2009
OPERATION KOKODA ASSIST - UPDATE
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.”
DEFENCE MEDIA RELEASE
Issued by Ministerial Support and Public Affairs, Department of Defence, Canberra, ACT
Phone: 02 6265 3343, Fax: 02 62656946
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.
Media Note:
Vision was distributed to all networks this morning. Updated ADF vision will be
distributed through Channel Nine Port Moresby, PNG.
Stills imagery is available at
Media contact: Defence Media Liaison: 02 6265 3343 or 0408 498 664
NEWS 
