Army Black Hawk Helicopter makes precautionary landing in PNG

At approximately 8.00am local time on 24 April 2012, an Australian Army Black Hawk helicopter made a precautionary landing at Isurava in Papua New Guinea due to an engine fault.

At the time of the landing, the Black Hawk was conducting a reconnaissance into Isurava in preparation for the Anzac Day activities involving the Chief of Army and World War Two veterans.

The four person crew safely landed the aircraft at the Kokoda airstrip. There were also four passengers on board at the time of the landing. There were no injuries sustained.

Commanding Officer of the 6th Aviation Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Scott Watkins, DFC, praised the actions of the crew.

“The aircraft was landed safely at Kokoda despite the very difficult situation,” said Lieutenant Colonel Scott Watkins.

“This type of precautionary landing is practiced regularly in the simulator.”

Defence is endeavouring to ascertain the cause of the engine fault. Until such time as the cause has been determined, Defence has decided to suspend non-essential tasking of the Black Hawk fleet for safety reasons.

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