PORT MORESBY -- Civil aviation officials said a chopper with a New Zealander and two Australians on board went down on Friday afternoon in Papua New Guinea. The Bell 206 chopper, operated by Hevilift Ltd, crashed close to Mount Hagen, in the southern Highlands of Papua New Guinea. All the people on board the ill-fated aircraft were employees of Hevilift. According to Yaqub Amaki, the head of civil aviation safety in PNG, the chopper was coming in from one of the InterOil sites to Mount Hagen. He added that there were three people on board, including the pilot. As of the time of this post, the condition of the three remain unknown. Hevilift stated that it had already initiated a search operation which will continue on Saturday. The firm also said that it was in contact with the loved ones of its employees.