On 11 August 2009, an Airlines PNG Twin Otter charter flight crashed into the side of a hill when it was en route to Kokoda killing all 13 people on board.

The nine Australians who died in the accident had planned to walk the Kokoda Track, while the others killed included the two Papua New Guinean pilots, a Papua New Guinean passenger and a Japanese tourist.

The plane crashed at approximately 11:14am, barely 20 minutes after it took off from Port Moresby's International Airport.

An investigation into the accident was conducted by the Papua New Guinea Accident Investigation Commission with assistance from the Papua New Guinea Department of Transport and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau. The investigation report released in 2011 identified factors leading to increased safety risk as being those related to the crew of the aircraft, the weather conditions affecting the flight, crew training and the conduct of the flight.