Indonesia Plane Wreckage Found on Mountain, No know Survivor (Photo : Reuters)
Surviving parts of the lost Indonesian plane had been located within the remote Western Papua region. Fifty-four passengers went down with the Trigana Air flight.
The wreckage of the aircraft was spotted by the locals of Bintang Highlands Region. Bintang Mountains Regency Police Chief Yunus Wally confirmed that the debris was spotted near the Oksop waterfall. Wally added that the ground search teams are heading to the area.
The flight left Sentani airport in Jayapura, Indonesia at 2:21 pm on Aug 16 going to the town of Oksibil. After an hour and a half, the plane lost contact, The Guardian reported. The plane went up with five crew and 49 passengers. Everyone aboard was Indonesian.
Everyone aboard was Indonesian, officials said, MSN reported. More details will be uncovered once the black box is found.
According to Indonesian Director-General for Air Transportation, Susprasetyo, Tangok Mountain villagers witnessed the plane crash and has rushed to the authority to report the incident which happened on their area. Immediate search and rescue were difficult due to harsh weather conditions. The search plane was forced to turn back.
The plane was carrying an estimate of $500,000 to be given to around 6,000 impoverished residents on the celebration of Indonesia's independence.
Trigana Airline has recorded 14 serious incidents since it started taking passengers in 1991. The company had lost ten planes according to the Aviation Safety Network. The European Union has blacklisted the airline company since 2007.
Several aerial tragedies have occurred in Indonesia recently. In December 2014, 192 people died when an AirAsia flight crashed in the Java Sea. In July, a military transport plane crashed in a residential area in Medan, Sumatra claiming 140 lives.
