Rescuers find Papua New Guinea plane wreckage

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Rescuers have found the wreckage of a passenger aircraft that crashed in Papua New Guinea, but it was unclear if any of the 13 passengers on board survived, Papuan authorities said on Wednesday.

The Airlines PNG De Havilland Twin Otter 300 with 11 passengers and two crew went missing over thickly forested mountains on Tuesday during a flight from the capital Port Moresby to the tourist destination of Kokoda.

"They've located the wreckage. I don't have any specific details at this point in time but I have just been told it has been located," Papua New Guinea Civil Aviation Authority head Joseph Kintau told Australian state radio.

Two helicopters began searching for the aircraft, which had nine Australians, one Japanese and three Papuans on board, in the rugged Owen Stanley Ranges on Wednesday after poor weather in the area cleared, Australia's Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said.

Rescuers were investigating reports from villagers in the Mount Bellamy area that there may be a plane crash site nearby, he said.

"We've narrowed it to this area, so we're describing that as a possible crash site," he said.

Aviation is hazardous in Papua New Guinea due to rugged, high mountains covered in thick jungle and rapidly changing weather conditions.

Airlines PNG, listed on the PNG stock exchange, operates to domestic destinations and to northern Australia. The company's Web site said it has eight Twin Otters in its fleet.

Australian tourists visit Kokoda to walk the Kokoda Track, where during World War Two Australian forces halted a Japanese troop advance on Port Moresby.

(Reporting by Rob Taylor; Editing by James Thornhill)