Six from Chch in air crash — dark halts bush search

Press, 18 July 1979, Page 1

Six from Chch in air crash — dark halts bush search

By PETER COMER Hopes faded last evening for the survival of a Christchurch missionary and his family of five whose plane has been missing in mountainous country in Papua New Guinea since Monday. The aircraft, a singleengined Cessna 206, is believed to have gone down on the short but treacherous journey through mountain passes between Anguganak, where the family had attended a church conference, and their home at the coastal mission station of Aitape. On board were Mr Robert Wilkinson, aged 42; his wife, Lois, aged 41; and their four young children, Stuart, aged 11; Marcia,

aged nine; Michelle, aged seven; and Glenn, aged two months. The Cessna, which has seating for only six persons, 'was carrying two other men plus the pilot. Widespread searches by several light aircraft yesterday found no trace of the missing plane. A signal from an emergency locator beacon, believed to be from the crashed Cessna, was picked up late in the afternoon. Ground search parties were sent into the rugged, bush-covered area, but darkness halted their progress. •‘We are doing all we can, but it looks pretty bad. The terrain is really

rough in there, and the weather is awful at the moment,” said a spokesman for the Open Brethren Church Hostel at Wewak, the nearest town to

Anguganak, by telephone last evening.

He said searchers were having trouble plotting the exact position of the emergency beacon.

“All we can do is pray that some of them are still alive,” said the spokesman. The Cessna took off early on Monday afternoon to cross the high mountain range between Anguganak and Aitape. There are no roads linking the settlements, but the trip takes only 15 minutes by air. “They radioed twice that they were trying to get through two different passes, but they did not make it,” the hostel spokesman said. “Then they called at 4 p.m. that they w ere returning to Anguganak, and that is the last that was heard of the plane.” Six light aircraft and

two helicopters will search again today for the missing plane, which is owned by the Missionary Aviation Fellowship. Waiting eagerly for news of the missing family is Mr Wilkinson's mother. Mrs J. M. Wilkinson, of Wilsons Road. St Martins. Mrs Wilkinson said her son had left Christchurch in 1968 with his Perth-born wife to work as a missionary for the Open Brethren Church. He had been at the coastal mission town of Aitape for several years. “There is not much in the place, just a few houses and a couple of shops, but they were very happy," said Mrs Wilkinson.