Police are trekking through rough terrain to reach the wreckage of a light plane which crashed with 13 people on board near the Kokoda Track yesterday.
A rescue helicopter found the wreckage of the Airlines PNG Twin Otter in rough terrain in the shadow of the Owen Stanley Ranges earlier this morning.
But the head of Papua New Guinea's Civil Aviation Authority, Joseph Kintau, says there has been no sign of activity at the crash site and he fears the worst for the people who were on board.
"At this point in time there's no activity at the crash site, no movements," he said.
"We will be fearing for the worst at this point in time. We'll have to get the report from the team that's been dispatched."
Mr Kintau says rescuers will try to reach the wreckage as soon as possible.
Nine Australians were on board the plane when it crashed in stormy weather yesterday. They were eight tourists from Victoria and Queensland and a tour guide working for Melbourne-based tour operator No Roads Expeditions. All were on their way to walk the Kokoda Track.
This morning Foreign Minister Stephen Smith confirmed that wreckage has been located north of the village of Isurava at an altitude of about 5,500 feet (1,700 metres).
"Consular officers have contacted all of the families of the nine Australians on the flight and in the last hour have advised them that a crash site has been located," he said.
He said PNG police officers had been dropped off near the site and were attempting to reach it on foot.
An Australian Defence Force Sea King helicopter with more PNG police and an Australian doctor is due to depart from Port Moresby soon and will attempt to land near the the crash site.
Meanwhile, a large crowd has gathered outside an aero-ambulance at the Port Moresby airport amid rumours that the bodies of those on board the flight might be flown in.
Among the crowd are several employees of No Road Expeditions - the company the Australians were due to walk the Kokoda Track with.
One of the missing Australians has been named as Bendigo man Peter Holliday.
His mother Liz Holliday told ABC Radio her son planned to walk the Kokoda Track with his cousin, in honour of their grandfather who served in World War II.
"I guess it's the same for everyone, anyone who's got anyone missing, it's just totally devastating. So your heart goes out to everyone, all the families of everyone who's got someone missing," she said before the plane was found.
Authorities believe at least three of the people missing on the flight are from Gippsland.
Moe resident Euan Comrie, Hazlewood North farmer Max Cranwell, and his daughter Leanne were flying from Port Moresby to the start of the Kokoda Trail.
Mr Comrie is the chairman of the Mo-Artz theatre, and is described as a talented actor and theatre director.
Mr Cranwell is a dairy farmer and life member of the Hazelwood North CFA brigade.
The plane was also carrying two people from Queensland's Sunshine Coast. They were named as Keith Gracie and June Canavan, a sports medicine doctor from Queensland's Sunshine Coast who was setting out to walk the Kokoda Track to raise money for a school in Tanzania.
The other people on board included three from Papua New Guinea and a Japanese national.
From ABC
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