Search begins for missing Indonesia plane

Rescuers say all 10 bodies have been pulled from the wreckage of a small passenger plane that crashed into a mountain in eastern Indonesia four days ago.

Search and rescue agency chief, Bambang Soelistyo, confirmed the wreckage had been found and said officials were preparing to retrieve the bodies of the passengers and crew on Tuesday.

Ambulances were taking the bodies to a nearby hospital. The flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder could help explain what caused the Aviastar Mandiri airline plane to crash.

The Twin Otter DHC-6 plane with 10 people aboard lost contact at 0636 GMT on Friday en route from Masamba to Makassar.

The ill-fated Twin Otter aircraft belonging to Aviastar airline and bearing registration number DHC6/PKBRM, was discovered as having crashed on Monday in Gamaru hamlet, Ulu Salu village, Enrekang Sub-district, South Sulawesi at 05:00 p.m. WITA.

The Transportation Ministry said a search has begun for plane, which lost contact on a flight from the town of Masamba, about 30 minutes before its was due to land in Makassar city. “Because of the dusk, we will return tomorrow to search for other victims and as well as the black boxes”.

The Transport Ministry revoked Aviastar’s regular flight permit Monday as it could not meet minimum requirements for aircraft availability after the crash, the Detik news website reported.

Indonesia, a sprawling archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, has a poor aviation safety record and has suffered a string of deadly crashes in recent times.