Aug. 12 (Bloomberg) -- A plane crash in Papua New Guinea yesterday killed all 13 people on board, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd told Parliament today after rescue teams found no survivors in the wreckage.

The Twin Otter Airlines PNG turboprop crashed at about 5,500 feet (1,680 meters) in the rugged Owen Stanley Range north of Port Moresby with nine Australians, three Papua New Guineans and one Japanese citizen on board yesterday morning.

The plane was carrying a trekking group that aimed to walk the Kokoda Trail, a hiking track popular with Australians. Rescue teams that reached the crash site, three hours by foot from Kokoda village, found no survivors.

“There is a horrible tragedy involved when families send off their loved ones for what they expect to be the experience of a lifetime only for it to turn into a tragedy,’ Rudd said, adding a father and son were among those killed. Lawmakers stood in silence as a mark of respect.

Kokoda is a World War II battle site and fighting along the 96-kilometer (60-mile) trail in 1942 was a central moment for Australians in the conflict. Soldiers turned back an advance by Japanese forces, preventing the capture of Port Moresby and a possible invasion of Australia 160 kilometers to the south.

Kokoda is visited by 5,000 Australian tourists each year, many paying tribute to relatives who fought and died there during the war.

Australian officials will travel to Papua New Guinea to help probe the cause of the crash, the government said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ed Johnson in Sydney at ejohnson28@bloomberg.net;

Last Updated: August 12, 2009 01:14 EDT