The Airlines PNG Bombardier Dash 8 Q100 turboprop that crashed in Papua New Guinea on 13 October has been identified.
The aircraft bears the registration P2-MCJ, said the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), which is helping with the investigations.
The airframe was built in 1988 and the aircraft 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 ATSB said it is assisting the Accident Investigation Commission of Papua New Guinea, and has dispatched a team of four investigators to the site.
Bombardier has also said that it is assisting in the investigations.
An Airlines PNG official said there are believed to be four survivors, but was unable to provide more details.
The airline said in a statement earlier there "appears to be some survivors, while a number of people remain unaccounted for".
The aircraft, which was enroute from Lae to the resort town of Madang with 28 passengers and four crew onboard, crashed about 20 kilometres (km) (12.4 miles) south of its destination in the late afternoon local time on 13 October.
Local news reports said there was a storm when the crash occurred.
Airlines PNG grounded its fleet of 12 Q100 aircraft after the incident and has launched an investigation to determine the cause of the crash.
The airline 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.
In August 2009, an Airlines PNG Twin Otter crashed killing 13 while approaching to the Kokoda airstrip.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
