The Airlines PNG Bombardier Dash 8 Q100 aircraft that crashed on 13 October had "an emergency situation" on board and its pilots were attempting an emergency landing in bad weather when the incident happened.
The aircraft split on impact and the fuselage caught fire, the airline said in a statement.
"The company has established there was an emergency situation on board its Dash-8 aircraft on approach to Madang airport. It has also been confirmed there was bad weather in the area at the time," Airlines PNG said.
"The crew attempted to conduct a controlled emergency landing, but the aircraft broke up on impact. Part of the fuselage caught fire."
Papua New Guinea authorities have sought the assistance of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), which has sent four investigators to the country.
Transport Canada and Bombardier officials are also involved, as are engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney, who supplied the aircraft's PW120 powerplants.
"The investigation will be wide-ranging including areas such as weather, fuel, any possible mid-air fire or any mechanical issues," the airline said.
Airlines PNG confirmed 28 of the 34 crew and passengers on board died in the incident, all of whom are believed to be Papua New Guinea nationals.
The captain, the first officer, a flight attendant and a passenger survived.
The captain, Bill Spencer, is a former Airbus A310 captain with 45 years of flying experience, the airline said. The 64-year-old spent 35 of those in the country.
First officer Campbell Wagstaff has over 2,500 hours of flying experience.
The aircraft, which bears the registration P2-MCJ, was enroute from Lae to the resort town of Madang when it crashed about 20 kilometres (km) (12.4 miles) south of its destination in the late afternoon local time on 13 October.
Airlines PNG has grounded its remaining 11 Q100 aircraft "until it is satisfied there are no safety issues".
The Q100 involved in this incident was built in 1988 and has clocked 48,069 flight cycles totalling 38,166 flight hours, according to information in Flightglobal's ACAS database. The aircraft is owned by the airline.
The carrier has 10 de Havilland Canada Twin Otters and a ATR 72-500, and operates both domestic services and flights between Papua New Guinea and Australia.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
