"There is heavy rain and Kokoda will become the main transport site. Locals guided the team up and are helping now. They landed in Kokoda and some walked to the spot. I can't recall anything thing worse, this could be the worst crash for PNG."

Mr Kintau said it would be difficult to recover the bodies.

"It's difficult terrain, it's a big challenge to fly there, we never pretend it's not going to be challenging," he said.

Mr Rudd paid condolences to the families, saying that the Australian high commission had conveyed a report from PNG authorities that there had been no survivors.

The families of the Australians have all been informed. "This is distressing news for the families concerned,’’ he told Parliament. "There is a horrible tragedy involved when families send off their loved ones for what they expect to be the experience of a lifetime, only for it to turn into tragedy like this.’’ The Opposition Leader, Malcolm Turnbull, also paid condolences to the families. Struggle to get to crash site Earlier, as darkness fell over the Owen Stanley Range, a team of eight struggled to get through the dense jungle to the crash site.

The rescuers had dropped down ropes from a helicopter in a valley below the mountain ridge where the plane crashed, PNG's Transport Minister Don Polye told journalists in Port Moresby. "The crash site is about 5000 foot on a mountain and the people have been dropped on the ground below at about lunch time," he said. "They have to walk up and it's about six to seven hours walk in the very difficult, rugged terrain.

"The weather is very difficult the terrain is very difficult.''

Mr Polye said helicopters which flew over the site did not see any sign of life.

"There was no movements," he said. But he said it could not be confirmed that the passengers were all dead. "I convey my deep sympathies to the families, that's all I can do at this stage," he said, adding that it was one of PNG's worst aviation disasters. He said the bodies would be recovered from the site, taken to Kokoda then to Port Moresby and finally Australia.

He said the bodies would be recovered from the site, taken to Kokoda then to Port Moresby and finally Australia.

He would not speculate on what went wrong. "I have an ordered an investigation into Airlines PNG and that will be carried out by the department,'' he said.

He would not comment on PNG authorities failing to properly investigate 19 air crashes which have killed 16 people, including three Australians and three New Zealanders since 2000.

TheCourier-Mail reported that the Twin Otter crashed into an almost sheer cliff minutes from its destination after aborting its first attempt to land.

David Inau, a former air safety investigator who flew over the Owen Stanley Range today, said the plane had hit a tree-covered mountainside and was tangled in the canopy with its wings folded around it. Mr Inau said the pilot, Jannie Moala, had apparently stopped her first approach five minutes away from the Kokoda Village landing strip but crashed as she tried to go back for a second attempt. He said Ms Moala appeared to have been looping back to line up for another landing attempt when she hit the cliff face.

The extent of the damage to the plane was such that it was unlikely anyone survived, Mr Inau said. "It must have gone in hard," Mr Inau told smh.com.au. "The plane is at the bottom of a canopy - you can’t see from the air if anybody has survived. "The trees bounced back up after the plane went in, that’s why you can’t see much,’’ he said. ‘‘There’s a couple of villages nearby but it is very rugged terrain.’’



The lost Twin Otter aircraft was ferrying tourists to the village of Kokoda when it disappeared during bad weather yesterday morning.

In a written statement, Airlines PNG said its plane was found at 8.40am today at an altitude of 5500 feet (1676 metres) in the Kokoda area.

Seven Victorians and two Queenslanders were among those on board the ill-fated flight. Seven Victorians and two Queenslanders were among those on board the ill-fated flight. The Queenslanders were Dr June Canavan, of Maroochydoore, and her close friend Keith Gracie from the Sunshine Coast.

Other Australian members of the group are believed to be Victorian fireman and part-time tour guide Matthew Leonard, 28, Max Cranwell, Kelly Weir, Max Harris, Euan Comrie and Peter Holliday. Mr Leonard is the son of WA police inspector Bill Leonard, say police.

Local guide Steven Jaruba of Kokoda was also reportedly on board, as well as a Japanese tourist and two local pilots, Ms Moala and Royden Sauka.

Three separate search parties are their way to the site of the crash near Isurava - the site of a World War II battle - in the Owen Stanley Range, but face a long trek and difficult weather conditions. The Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith described it as a ‘‘tragic and terrible’’ outcome. The Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith described it as a ‘‘tragic and terrible’’ outcome. No Roads Expeditions, the tour company that organised the flight, issued a statement through managing director Peter Miller saying: "We are hoping and praying that there may still be a positive outcome.

"This is an incredibly difficult time for those affected by this situation and for us," he said. "Our guides are like an extended family, and our groups become friends as they travel together, so this has deeply affected us and our travelling community.'' He said the group was one of about 50 trips No Roads booked to Kokoda each year. The group was on a scheduled commercial flight, although charters are often used, but otherwise there was nothing unusual about this trip, he said. Peter Holliday's wife Shonia, of Bendigo, has booked flights and the Australian Foreign Affairs Department has assisted with organising visas, she told Fairfax Radio.

"We've got flights booked for tomorrow morning,'' she said. Her husband was on his way with his cousin to walk the iconic Kokoda Track in a tribute to his veteran grandfather. "His grandfather fought in World War II in that area, so he and his cousin wanted to go and experience it for themselves, I guess," she said today. An emotional Ms Holliday said all the families of the missing adventurers needed positive support. "We just need everyone [to] stop talking negatively," she said.

"The best thing is to talk positively. "They are going to come home, they're going to be fine, there might be a few cuts and bruises but that's going to be the extent ... " PNG's PM calls for investigation Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister Michael Somare expressed "great sadness" over the crash and extended his sympathies to the families of the crew and passengers on board. He called for a full investigation. "I have requested the ministers of the various responsible authorities to commence investigations into the accident and to furnish a report to cabinet.

"Kokoda holds great historic and sentimental value to the people of Australia and it is with great sadness that we experience such tragedy that took place yesterday," he said.

Crowd gathers at airport A large crowd of worried Papua New Guineans, fearing their relatives were on board, gathered at Port Moresby airport. More than 60 PNG porters, who assist Kokoda trekkers along the famous 96-kilometre walk, have arrived at the airport with the hope their loved ones were not on board the plane.

Kokoda Track veteran Norris Selu said groups from different trekking companies gathered to find out information about the flight.

Loading "We are here to show sympathy and provide moral support. "All of us are worried someone we know may have been on board. At this stage we just don't know and are waiting for more information." Georgina Robinson, Phil Coorey, Jonathan Pearlman, Lindsay Murdoch and AAP

