The intensive search for a chopper missing in PNG with a New Zealander and two Australians on board will resume on Tuesday by air and on the ground.
New Zealander Antony Annan, 49, and Australians Emmett Fynn, 36 and Russell Aitken, 42, were on board a Bell 206 helicopter that went down near Mt Hagen in the PNG highlands on Thursday.
Paul Booij, group managing director of Hevilift, which owns the chopper, has denied the helicopter had been flying in dangerous conditions.
"The conditions at the time the helicopter went missing were believed to be low cloud with reduced visibility but still favourable for flying, thereby allowing the flight to depart," said Mr Booij.
The company will be utilising a magnetometer-fitted helicopter on Tuesday.
"It is a sensor that measures disturbances in the earth's magnetic field caused by large mineral deposits. An aircraft the size of a Bell 206 has enough ferrous material in it to show up and be `seen' by one of these machines," he said.
Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) said two ground teams were expected to be airlifted into the search area on Monday.
"The terrain being searched is extremely densely forested with the forest canopy rising up to 70 metres above the ground," DFAT said in a statement.
"We understand up to seven aircraft are currently involved in the aerial search. The aircraft include at least one helicopter leased by the PNG government and are marked in PNG Defence Force colours."
The search began in dense bushland last Thursday, within hours of a mayday call.
There are seven helicopters and a fixed-wing aircraft sweeping the area with electronic surveillance.
Thick forest and periodic fog have hampered the search.
Mr Annan is from a well-known flying family from Alexandra in Central Otago, New Zealand.
His brother Matthew was killed in a light plane crash in Australia more than 10 years ago.
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