2 days Ago By Post-Courier Contributor
By Clement Kaupa Poye In anticipation of the final closure to the tragic Sapmanga plane crash recovery mission, hopefully today, another tragedy is emerging for the very remote rural villagers living in the hinterlands between the districts of Wau-Bulolo, Tewai-Siasi and Huon-Gulf in Morobe Province. Initially shocked, as news of the crash trickled and meandered its way to them via critically limited mobile network coverage in their mountain enclaves and river-delta villages, the hardy rural people of Waria Valley, Kabwum, Bulolo, Garaina and Wau also grieved deeply and shared with the rest of the nation, for the unfortunate souls on board, and the plane itself, that is their lifeline for over 30 years. Amidst the outpouring of grief, these locals also grieved for the ‘Spirit of Bulolo’- the light plane now written into PNG’s aviation accident history as the Britten Norman 2B, registered as P2 SAM to owner-operator North Coast Aviation (NCA), that crashed into mountainous terrain at Sapmanga in Kabwum, Morobe Province, on Sunday December 22, two days short of 2024 Christmas Day.
These rural dwellers who eke out a living in some of the most extreme geographical and weather conditions in this rugged country, the loss of this airplane is profound as it is their only means to transport their coffee out and return with medicine, school materials and basic store items. It is also devastating for the owner-operator North Coast Aviation that had since announced that it had ceased its operations until further notice in February 2025. Incidentally, the Spirit of Bulolo was the only airplane in operation until its fatal crash this month.
In conveying his condolences to the families of the deceased, Senior Policy Officer with the Department of Prime Minister and NEC, Mr Ware Aulakua also shared his personal experience of flying in the ‘Spirit of Bulolo’ over those very same mountains in 2018 as a former Rotary Against Malaria (RAM) Officer. This is a personal account of Mr Aulakua sent to the Post Courier yesterday as an odyssey to an era of travel that is necessary and crucial, oftentimes the last recourse to save lives in medical emergencies. Between April 2017-June 2020, I was engaged by the Rotary Against Malaria as one of many field officers sent to many remote rural parts of coastal areas to distribute treated Longer-Lasting Insecticide Nets (LLINs) across the country.
On May 2018, I was flown on the North Coast Aviation (NCA) plane, Britten Norman 2B, registered as P2 SAM (Spirit of Bulolo), from Nadzab to Dinangat, close to Sapmanga, in YUS Rural LLG, Kabwum district, Morobe Province. I stayed in Dinangat for 2 weeks and on my day of return, the plane, this ill-fated plane couldn’t come pick me because it was already overloaded and it flew by overhead. Seeing it flying over and away from me, my heart sank with hopelessness.
But being a strong-willed person, I devised a plan with my host and local councilor to walk from Dinangat to Erap, which would take 2 days for the locals but maybe more for me. I contacted my supervisors in Lae and they advised me to wait for another day or two as they will send in the plane and eventually the plane came and flew me back to Nadzab. Third level airlines line the NCA, SDA Aviation etc are the lifeline of many rural communities where road link is non existent.
Such light aircrafts had always assisted the people in the remotest parts of this country as well as ensured some levels of needed interventions are delivered to the people, though not often at the doorstep, at least convenient and accessible. Like the many field trips I’ve taken, I have this habit of taking lots of pictures. I hope to keep these picture memories and share them with my kids later on and to inspire them of the beauty of this beautiful country, as well as the real-life struggles and missed opportunities a lot of innocent and lovely kids and their parents experience in the quiet rural outback.
Moreover, I hope to remind my kids of some of the risks I undertook, to do a job but also to put food on the table. I have left the job with RAM and am now working full time in the city (Port Moresby) for 4 years now but a part of my spirit still roams freely out there in rural PNG..
