African jungle searched for executives

A Perth mining company faces the "extraordinary" possibility of losing its entire
board after a plane carrying six Australian executives is feared to have crashed in
thick west African jungle.
A search for Sundance Resources' board members resumed on Monday afternoon (WST)
after their light aircraft was reported missing two days ago.
The plane was flying from Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon, to the site of
Sundance's Mbalam iron ore project near Yangadou in the Congo when it failed to
arrive on Saturday (local time).
On board were chairman Geoff Wedlock, managing director Don Lewis, directors Ken
Talbot, Craig Oliver, John Jones and company secretary John Carr-Gregg.
A multi-national air and ground search is being conducted by Cameroon, Gabonese and
Congolese authorities with support from Australian, Canadian and US officials.
The French government has offered the services of its military.
Four fixed-wing aircrafts and seven helicopters have been brought in to search among
the undulating terrain consisting of thick, dense jungle, rugged mountains, swamps
and marshes.
Sundance's chief financial officer Peter Canterbury has taken on the role of acting
chief executive officer, while former chairman George Jones is providing support
through his role as strategic adviser.
Mr Jones, who's flown to the area many times, said he did not underestimate the
challenge faced in searching through the rough terrain.
"There are tracks and some villages there but not a lot in between, where you don't
know what's there," he said on Monday.
"I'm not a pessimist. I remain optimistic we'll come up with something but I don't
underestimate the difficulty of finding them."
It was unusual for an entire board to get on the same flight, Mr Jones said, but the
fact that there was only one plane available that could land on the small, dirt
airstrip at Yangadou forced them to depart from protocol.
Mr Talbot's 19-seat executive jet was parked at Yaounde but was not suitable for the
airstrip.
"It's an extraordinary event to have the entire board and company secretary lost in
one circumstance," Mr Jones said.
He urged the families and friends of all six board members to "maintain hope but be
realistic about possible outcomes".
"A number of the wives have got young children. This is going to be a difficult time
for them."
Mr Carr-Gregg's wife Susan said from her home in Sydney on Monday she held out hope
her husband would be found alive.
His father, John Carr-Gregg Snr, said he was comforted by the fact that through his
son's character and toughness he would be able to survive a plane crash.
"He is the greatest guy I've ever known," he told AAP.
"My daughter-in-law has said if there's any chance of him getting out of a wreck
he'll get out because he's a very tough guy."
Acting CEO Peter Canterbury said there was anecdotal evidence of people hearing of a
plane flying over a certain area.
Mr Canterbury said there were only two incidents of contact made with the flight, at
9.06am (local time) and 9.51am on Saturday, and they were both standard reporting
with no evidence of problems being reported.
He said there was no incidence of bad weather.
"There was some slight delays while low cloud covered dispersed but there was no
concern when the flight took off," Mr Canterbury said.
"It was cleared for take-off at both Yaounde and consulted about ground conditions
from our people in Yangadou.
"They wouldn't have taken off if there wasn't clearance to say there was appropriate
landing conditions."
In addition to the six Australian board members, a US Sundance consultant, as well
as a French and British citizen and two pilots on board.