Indonesian airliner carrying 54 people loses contact over easternmost Papua

There was no indication of a distress call from the French-built ATR 42-300twin turboprop plane, the ministry said. No information has been given about whether there were any survivors from the crash.

Officials said the wreckage was spotted about 7 miles from Oksibil.

The searchers from the Indonesian search and rescue agency have spotted the debris from a plane that crashed in the mountainous area with 54 people on board on Sunday.

Search planes spotted debris on a mountainside Monday, but efforts to try to reach it on foot and by helicopter were suspended until Tuesday because of fog.

Villagers reported seeing a plane crash into a mountain, according to Indonesian aviation authorities.

All aboard were Indonesian nationals, officials have said.

Airline officials were not immediately available to respond to enquiries from Reuters.

Trigana flight IL267 failed to arrive in Oksibil from Sentani as scheduled after contact was lost in poor weather 33 minutes after take-off. “We strongly suspect it’s a weather issue; it is now very bad there, it’s very dark and cloudy and [also] not conducive for a search”, he said. “Maybe they could no longer see the airport”.

As of this time, the whereabouts of all 54 passengers remain unknown.

Four postal workers were on the plane escorting four bags of money totaling $468,750 in government aid, Franciscus Haryono, the head of the post office in Jayapura, the provincial capital, told the Associated Press. He said about 150 rescuers were heading to the remote area, which is known for its dense forest and steep cliffs, and would begin searching for the plane early Monday. “But who knows, let’s wait”, said Major-General Heronimus Guru, operations director at Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency.

Sunday’s plane crash is the latest in a string of aviation disasters in south-east Asia.

Barata said he would be flying from Jakarta to Papua along with investigators and search and rescue officials.

The aviation sector in Indonesia is expanding fast as the economy booms but airlines are struggling to find enough well-trained personnel to keep up with the rapid growth.

The plane lost contact with air traffic controllers about 10 minutes short of its destination. Airlines on the list are barred from operating in European airspace due to either concerns about safety standards or the regulatory environment in their country of registration.