PNG Air Crash Investigation Stalls
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Monday, July 19, 2010
The investigation into a plane crash that killed nine Australians in Papua New Guinea is on hold after the country's only crash investigator lost his job.
Chief investigator Sid O'Toole's contract expired last week and it has not been renewed by PNG's transport department.
Mr O'Toole is PNG's only aviation investigator and has spoken out in the past about the lack of funding to carry out investigations.
He says the report into the crash which killed 13 people near Kokoda in August last year was "well advanced" but is now on hold.
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Mr O'Toole declined to comment on why his contract was not renewed.
He says there is a chance he will be re-hired by the Accident Investigation Commission as a contractor.
The crash claimed the lives of nine Australians, including Victorian residents Peter Holliday, Euan Comrie, Matthew Leonard, Max Cranwell and his daughter Leanne.