Thick clouds foil search for missing aircraft<\/p>\n
Nana Rukmana
\nThe Jakarta Post
\nCirebon, West Java<\/p>\n
The search and rescue team doubled the number of planes
\ndeployed to locate a missing training aircraft to six on
\nSaturday, but their efforts were hampered by thick clouds.<\/p>\n
On the third straight day of the search, the rescue team
\ncombed mountains between Purwakarta and Cirebon in West Java
\ncovering a distance of 120 kilometers only to return home empty
\nhanded.<\/p>\n
"We have tried to comb the mountain areas starting from Mount
\nBurangrang, Mt. Tangkuban Perahu, Mt. Tampomas and Mt. Ciremai.
\nBut bad weather and thick cloud hampered visibility and our
\nefforts to discover the training aircraft," rescue team
\ncoordinator Capt. Julikin told reporters upon landing at Penggung
\nAirport here.<\/p>\n
Julikin said the rescue team also flew low around flat areas
\nin Jatiwangi and Palimanan, but were unable to detect the missing
\nplane.<\/p>\n
The Cessna 172 PK-DCM, operated by Deraya Flying School in
\nJakarta, is feared to have crashed around Mt. Ciremai on Thursday
\nen route to Halim Perdanakusuma air base in Jakarta from Ahmad
\nYani Airport in the Central Java capital of Semarang.<\/p>\n
Head of PT Deraya Air flight safety division, Capt. Endo
\nRaptadi, said it was difficult to imagine that the three people
\naboard the light aircraft, instructor Berti Franki Nongsiana, 35,
\nand two students, Gagak E. Kandrian, 25, and Arwin, 25, could
\nhave survived.<\/p>\n
On Saturday the rescue team was assisted by the Air Force, the
\nNational Search and Rescue Agency and air transportation
\ncompanies, involving two planes and four helicopters. Another
\nhelicopter is standing by at Kalijati air base in Subang.<\/p>\n
Julikin, who heads the operational division of PT Deraya Air,
\nsaid the rescue team relied solely on sight as an emergency
\nlocater transmitter attached to the aircraft was not functioning.<\/p>\n
"The battery of the electronic device can only last 48 hours
\nafter an incident. We actually have not received any signal,
\nprobably because the transmitter was broken or the plane crashed
\non difficult terrain," Julikin said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/thick-clouds-foil-search-for-missing-aircraft-1447893297",
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