EIGHTEEN years ago, Fiji was struck by one of its biggest national tragedies. Domestic flight PC 121 crashed in the hilltops of Mataicicia, Delailasakau in Naitasiri killing all 17 on board, leaving a scattered trail of charred remains — and a mystery on the true cause behind the disaster.
PC 121 tragedy was a first of its kind for the country. One that struck the hearts of Fijians when names identified husbands, wives, daughters and sons among the dead.
The 5.25am flight on July 24, 1999 that later crashed struck the core foundation of the airline company responsible and families mourned for their loved ones who rescuers could not reach on day one because of the uncharted location of the crash.
I was just in class eight when this unforgettable crash happened. It was just stories we heard from the elderly. These stories may have been broken up into many pieces, as they said second-hand information which may have been told and retold by so many people apart from factual accounts of what happened as shared by the local media.
Eighteen years down the line and I decided to discover for myself what had happened so it was this trip to the very village which the Mataicicia Hill belonged to, the village of Delailasakau in the interior of Waidina, Naitasiri that I managed to uncover the events that unfolded on the morning of July 24, 1999.
On the village front stands a huge white cross, a memorial which pays tribute to the passengers and crew, 17 in total, who lost their lives on Air Fiji flight PC 121 at 5.40am on July 24, 1999.
Ratu Mikaele Seruitukana was the first villager to be airlifted by a helicopter to the crash site about two hours after the tragic crash happened.
He is now the village headman for Delailasakau. Even though this tragic crash happened 18 years ago, he still has fresh memories of what actually happened on the day.
“This was a once in a lifetime occasion where we met up with such tragedies, emotionally and even psychologically as bodies were scattered over the mountain site,” Ratu Mikaeli recalled.
“It is still fresh like the same day it happened 18 years ago and I could still recall what I did and what happened. We were woken by the loud crash which we knew had happened on the hills but by this time the mist still covered the village, it was still dark.”
Like any other scene, the children are always the first ones there and they were excited to see what had happened so they walked up the hills only to be turned away by a huge wild pig. Before the village had no other means of communication and their only means of communication was just a radio transmitter, which was across the river.
Ratu Mikaeli said they sent an RT alert straightaway to the Navua and Nausori police stations.
“By then, the mist had lifted and we saw fragments of the airplane on one side of the hill, shining against the rising sun.
“The chief told us to get to the site and see if there was any survivor.
“I was airlifted by the helicopter which had already conducted a search on one side of the ridge where the plane crashed and I was carried across the crash site by a rope.
“What I saw was tragic. It was very hard to describe the things that happened. The first, of course, for our country and many things ran through my mind … family members, wives, children and loved ones.”
Ratu Mikaele shed a tear as he shared the sad account of what happened 18 years ago just like it happened yesterday.
Seated near the door of their house was his wife, who joined in the interview just to share the account of what happened, something they had never seen in their life.
“Being a mother, I cried like many other women in the village as we thought of the families of the victims. Some may have left without saying goodbye while others were expecting to meet them upon their return,” Mrs Seruitukana said.
The effects of what happened at the crash site, especially to the men of the village will remain in them forever.
The trauma they went through. Some lost their appetite for days while others preferred to stay close to each other or in groups as they revealed the tragic scene they had encountered.
There were incidences where men of the village would wake up shouting in the middle of the night as if they were still at the crash site, shaken by what had happened.
For Ratu Mikaele, the most important thing was getting to the crash scene and assisting police and relevant authorities.
He even told the men of the village to always share and tell their stories when people asked them because these were rare scenes which involved people.
“All in all, we are glad we did what we did to help,” he said.
“We tried to do our best, to try and cover up the bodies, we wanted to treat them with dignity so that their bodies were not exposed.”
For the past 18 years, the villagers of Delailasakau have been commemorating July 24, the date of the tragic crash as Delailasakau Day.
A memorial mass is held in the morning followed by the village soli later in the day where all villagers from around the country would join to commemorate the event that has made their village known not only in Fiji but to the rest of the world.
? Next week: Part 2: The search for dead bodies.
