As our Air Niugini Fokker 28 began to bump down through roiling cumulus after a relatively smooth flight from Port Moresby, I began peering in vain for a glimpse of the awesome mountains that I had been informed lay below us on our route to Lae, a rusty tropical town tucked into a corner of the Solomon Sea.
Early in our descent, we broke through cloud cover. At long last, I had a glimpse of ruggedness. As Captain Mike turned on an easterly heading towards the Solomon Sea, I caught a view of Lae in the distance,a deceptively modern-looking town from afar, which quickly passed from view. I peered into twisted jungle and precipitous drop offs, which from altitude were rather beautiful but seemed deceptively tame.
As we descended, and detail began to blossom, I fully appreciated the ordeals of a World War II USAF pilot, whose crippled Lockheed Lightning P 38, had staggered into a ridge, some miles short of the runway. The P 38 was the same type of aircraft Charles Lindbergh had flown while on patrols with the 475th Fighter Group. The downed pilot stated that he witnessed fighter planes above his head and followed them with envious eyes as they turned short final and landed on the Lae strip. At the time of the accident, he was, by his own account, about six miles from the strip but a foot or two shy of altitude.
"Cabin Attentdants. Stations."
The unfortunate airman was quoted as saying, "In New Guinea, when you've seen one ravine, you haven't seen them all."
Every time he came to a ravine he followed it until he could find a crossing and then he back-tracked on the other side of the ravine. To travel six miles, he probably hiked fifty.
"As we turned final and touched down, I thought of the airman who took four torturous days to hike the distance we traversed in about four or five minutes.
Lindbergh
While taxiing in, my nose was still pressed against the window. Captain Mike said,"Welcome to Lae. The temperature is 31 degrees Celsius and it's raining. Enjoy your stay. Thank you for flying Air Niugini. Having you aboard has been a pleasure."
We stepped off the aircraft and were immediately enveloped in a hot wet blanket, but it failed to shatter my illusions. Quite the contrary! Although I had been told that there was no place in the world quite like PNG, I was just awakening to the realization that PNG's boosters might not just be talking through a hole in their heads.
