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The sister of the New Zealander who was the sole survivor of Tuesday's plane crash in Papua New Guinea says she felt "utter disbelief" when she heard he was alive.
Kelby Cheyne, 25, originally from Dunedin but now living in Toowoomba, inland from Brisbane, was the co-pilot of the chartered Trans-Air twin-engine jet which slid off a wet runway on Misima Island, killing another New Zealander and three Australians.
Mr Cheyne was believed to have escaped through a cockpit window.
His sister, Selena Cheyne, said she had felt "utter disbelief and hopeful relief" when she heard her brother had survived.
"It's been crazy," she told The Australian newspaper.
"There's been a lot of mixed reports but he's only got severe bruising, he doesn't have a broken leg. Then there are the psychological scars."
Ms Cheyne, who is flying to Townsville, where Mr Cheyne is in hospital, this afternoon, said her brother had been flying for years but had been nervous about flying in Papua New Guinea.
"He was concerned about the safety, but he never showed any fear,"she said.
Mr Cheyne's stepmother, Carmela, yesterday told Toowoomba's The Chronicle the family was desperate to speak to him.
"There's always the thing in the back of your mind - what if they've got it wrong?"
The family had heard mixed reports about what actually happened during the crash. One account was he was pulled from the wreckage by villagers and in another he was thrown from the cockpit just before the plane exploded.
"Once they get to him and we hear his voice and we know it's him, then we'll be okay," Mrs Cheyne said.
A staff member at the dental surgery Mrs Cheyne owns with Kelby's father, New Zealand dentist Geoffrey Cheyne, told nzherald.co.nz the pair were on their way to be with Kelby this morning.
The New Zealander who died in the crash has not yet been named. The Australians killed were Trans-Air part owner Les Wright, Sydney-based marine pilot Chris Hart, and Darren Moore from Western Australia.
Misima police officer Sergeant Dick Wadnawi said rescue efforts were been hindered because the watching officers did not have firefighting equipment.
"We couldn't get close because of the heat and we were scared of the explosions and the smoke," he said. "If we had (firefighting equipment), we could have got closer."
Civil Aviation Authority of Papua New Guinea air safety director Wilson Sagati would not comment on a possible lack of firefighting equipment and said investigations were continuing.
"We have retrieved the flight box recorder and it has been handed over to our Accident Commission," Mr Sagati said.
- NZPA,NZ Herald staff
