Wreckage of Missing Plane Carrying 54 People Found in Indonesia
According to the BBC, rescue officials say a search plane has spotted the wreckage of an Indonesian airliner that went disappeared on Sunday with 54 people on board. It is not yet known if anyone survived the crash.
Officials say the missing Trigana Air flight was found in the country’s remote Bintang region, just 7 miles from its intended destination of Oksibil. From the Associated Press:
Search planes went into the air early Monday after residents of a village not far from Oksibil told local police that they saw a plane flying low before crashing into a mountain, said Ludiyanto, who heads the search and rescue operation from Jayapura.
Ludiyanto, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, said that rugged, forested terrain and bad weather were hindering the search.
Bad weather was also cited as a potential cause of the crash, which occurred in Indonesia’s mountainous Papua province.
“I can say that a pilot who is capable of flying there will be able to fly an aircraft in any part of the world,” aviation analyst Dudi Sudibyo told the AP.
Citing safety concerns, the EU has banned Trigana Air from operating in European airspace since 2007, CNN reports.
[Image via AP Images]