Indonesian rescuers find wreckage of plane in mountainous region
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian rescue teams recovered the wreckage Sunday. a lost plane It is believed that he crashed with 11 people aboard the previous day while approaching the mountainous region on Sulawesi Island in cloudy weather.
The turboprop ATR 42-500 disappeared from radar on Saturday shortly after being instructed by air traffic control to correct its approach alignment while en route from Yogyakarta on Indonesia’s main island of Java towards Makassar, the capital of South Sulawesi province.
The plane, operated by Indonesian Air Transport, was last tracked at 13:17 in the Leang-Leang region of Maros, a mountainous region of South Sulawesi province. The aircraft was carrying eight crew members and three passengers from the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, who were on board as part of an aerial maritime surveillance mission.
Muhammad Arif Anwar, head of the Makassar Search and Rescue Department, said that on Sunday morning, a rescue team aboard an air force helicopter spotted what appeared to be a small airplane window in a forested area on the slope of Bulusaraung Mountain. It was followed by rescue teams who retrieved larger debris consistent with the main fuselage and tail scattered across a steep northern slope, Anwar told a news conference.
“Finding the main parts of the aircraft significantly narrows down the search area and provides a crucial clue to narrow down the search area,” Anwar said. “Our joint search and rescue teams are now focusing on searching for victims, especially those who may still be alive.”
South Sulawesi’s Hasanuddin military commander, Major General Bangun Nawoko, said ground and air rescue teams continued to advance towards the debris field on Sunday despite strong winds, dense fog and steep rugged terrain slowing down search efforts.
Photos and videos released Sunday by the National Search and Rescue Agency showed rescuers hiking along a steep, narrow mountain ridge covered in dense fog to reach scattered debris.
Indonesia It relies heavily on air transport and ferries to connect more than 17,000 islands. The Southeast Asian country has been struggling with transportation accidents in recent years. aeroplane And bus accidents with ferry sinkings.
