Runway Excursion at a Rural Strip: Accident, Notification and Evidence
At 1612 on a wet November afternoon a Part 135 Cessna 208B with one pilot and eight passengers lands at a rural airstrip serving a mining community. The strip is 900 m of sealed surface with a 60 m grass overrun, on a downslope, and standing water lies in the touchdown zone. The aircraft touches down long, does not stop, and runs off the end at about 25 knots. The nose landing gear collapses in a culvert and the aircraft stops 15 m beyond the strip. The propeller is bent and the firewall is wrinkled. One passenger has a fractured wrist; another has a head laceration requiring hospital treatment. There is no fire and no fuel leak. Police arrive and secure the strip. The company duty manager telephones: 'Get the aircraft off the strip tonight - we have three flights tomorrow, and the insurer wants photos before anyone else touches it.' A passenger has already posted video of the approach on social media.
1. Classify the occurrence and set out the notifications required: what, to whom, by whom and how urgently.
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Classification. This is an accident, not an incident. Two elements of the ICAO Annex 13 definition are met. First, the aircraft has sustained damage adversely affecting its structural strength or performance - a bent propeller and a wrinkled firewall after a gear collapse is plainly substantial damage, and it is not the kind of damage listed as excepted (engine failure confined to the engine, damaged cowlings, small dents). Second, a person has sustained a serious injury: a fracture of a bone other than a simple finger, toe or nose fracture is a serious injury, and hospital treatment for a head laceration may qualify independently.
Notifications. The pilot in command, or the operator if the pilot is incapacitated, must notify without delay by the quickest available means (satellite phone here, not email):
- the PNG Accident Investigation Commission, as the investigating authority for the occurrence;
- CASA PNG as the regulatory authority;
- the operator's own safety management system and accountable manager.
Through the AIC, the State of Occurrence then notifies the State of Registry (PNG), State of the Operator, State of Design and State of Manufacture, and ICAO where required.
Timing. Immediately - 'as soon as possible and by the quickest means available'. The first notification is brief and factual: type, registration, location, time, persons on board, injuries, damage, and whether fire or dangerous goods were involved. It is corrected later; it is never delayed to make it complete.
Do not do. Do not wait for the insurer, for the media statement, or until the strip is reopened. Late notification is an offence in its own right.
2. What evidence must be preserved, what may be moved, and how do you answer the duty manager and the insurer?
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The governing principle in Annex 13 and in PNG's investigation rules is that the State conducting the investigation has exclusive control of the site and the wreckage, and no one may disturb or move it except to the extent necessary for the safety of persons, to prevent fire or other hazards, or with the authorisation of the investigator in charge.
What may be done now. Rescue and care of the injured; securing the site against fire and fuel spill; guarding the wreckage so that the public and the mining company's vehicles stay clear. Movement of wreckage beyond that requires authority.
What must be preserved. The aircraft in situ and the ground marks - the touchdown point, tyre marks, the wreckage path into the culvert; the flight folio, technical log, load sheet, mass and balance, weather briefing, flight plan, crew licences and medicals; the aircraft's instruments, switches and the GPS or any recording device; the operator's schedule and crew duty records. Photograph the scene before anything is touched; photographs are preservation, not alteration.
Answering the duty manager. A clear refusal: the aircraft cannot be moved tonight, the strip cannot be reopened, and tomorrow's flights must be cancelled or repositioned from another base. Explain that removing the aircraft is an offence and would also destroy the company's own defence.
Answering the insurer. Photographs and a survey may be arranged through the investigator in charge, who controls access and timing. The insurer has no independent right of access to a site under investigation.
Passenger video. Do not attempt to have it deleted - that is destruction of evidence. Note that it exists, and tell the AIC.
3. What are the separate roles of the AIC and CASA PNG, and what are your obligations and limits on disclosure during the investigation?
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Two different functions. The AIC conducts an independent safety investigation whose sole object is the prevention of future accidents; it does not apportion blame and it does not enforce. CASA PNG is the regulator: it may conduct its own investigation, take enforcement or licence action, and audit the operator's compliance with its AOC and exposition. Both may be running at the same time. Do not assume that a cooperative statement to one is invisible to the other - but do not assume they are the same process either.
Your obligations. Cooperate fully and truthfully with the AIC; make yourself available for interview; produce the documents you are lawfully required to keep. Record your own factual notes while memory is fresh, without speculating about cause. Notify your insurer separately to protect your own position. Advise the employer or pilot association if you want support at interview.
Limits on disclosure. The AIC controls release of information about the investigation and normally releases nothing until its report. You should not: brief the media; discuss the likely cause on social media; disclose to the operator's other pilots or to the mining company anything from an interview or a protected record. Voice and data recordings, where fitted, are protected and used only for the investigation. Confidential safety reporting channels exist for the reporting of hazards and errors, and the operator's SMS records are not a substitute for the statutory investigation.
Practical point. The most common damage a pilot can do in these first 24 hours is speculation - to the police, to the insurer, or on the phone to the duty manager. Say what happened; do not say why.