VH-GKF  Cessna 185B Skywagon                     (c/n  185-0542)

                                 

                                   Here's VH-GKF (185-0542) of Territory Airlines at its home base of Goroka in 1966.   Photo by
                                   Alan Bovelt.   Registered new to TAL in May 1963, it remained with them until it crashed on 13 Aug
                                   1973.     On that day, while on approach to the demanding Kegsugi strip, at 8000 feet elevation on
                                   the side of a mountain, the pilot could not out-climb a severe down-draft.  Unable to turn in the narrow
                                   confines of the Chumbu Valley, he made a forced landing in a sweet potato patch.     The aircraft was
                                   wrecked, trapping the pilot who was seriously injured and evacuated to Australia for medical treatment.
                                   Miraculously, the 6 passengers escaped unhurt.