Rescuers find wreckage of missing passenger plane

Rescuers on Tuesday transported all 10 bodies of victims from a crashed Indonesian plane to a nearby village, and discovered a black box of the small aircraft, a rescue official said.

“Yes, I have received a report from Luwu Police chief Adj. Sr”.

The discovery came after authorities expanded the search earlier on Monday, dispatching aircraft and boats to scour waters off Sulawesi after initial operations on land failed to find the plane.

Searchers found the flight in a forested area at an altitude of 7,000 feet (2,100 meters) near Gamaru village at the foot of Latimojong mountain on Monday.

The National Police’s Disaster Victims Identification (DVI) team is already standing by at Makassar’s Sultan Hasanuddin airbase to identify remains at the Bhayangkara Police Hospital also in Makassar, the Basarnas chief continued.

He said the team was conducting a coordination meeting to prepare the evacuation process.

The plane lost contact with air traffic controllers 11 minutes after taking off in good weather Friday from Masamba in South Sulawesi province.

Meanwhile, Transportation Minister Ignatius Jonan said his ministry would evaluate all Twin Otter planes operating in Indonesia.

“We are hampered by the weather and a crash location that is hard to reach”, Heronimus Guru said.

According to Aviation-safety.net, Aviastar has had four fatal incidents, including that of a British Aerospace 146-300 aircraft in Papua in 2009, killing all six crew members on board. Subscription includes free daily editions of The Nation, The Star Malaysia, the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Asia News.