The aircraft that crashed was carrying supplies to a remote village.

"It was our parish of Our Lady of Fatima in Woitape, Goilala district, that chartered the flight to bring in much needed supplies from the capital," Bishop Rochus Tatami told the Catholic Reporter PNG shortly after the tragedy.

"Those who died or were injured on the way back to Port Moresby were people from our Goilala villages."

The flight's two pilots and a passenger were killed in the crash some 30 miles from its destination of Port Moresby, the Papua New Guinean capital. The flight had originated in Woitape.

A second passenger died in a Port Moresby hospital the following day.

The five surviving passengers sustained minor injuries, and have been discharged from a hospital in Port Moresby.

Among them were Fr. John Paul Aihi, 36, who was ordained in 2010. He told the Catholic Reporter PNG that "I was at the back of the 12-seat aircraft and as soon as we came out of the clouds, I saw the trees coming towards us. I spontaneously thought the pilot would immediately lift the plane; instead after a very few seconds we crashed."

Source

• Catholic Reporter PNG
• CNA
• emtv.com.pg
• Image: CNA