Missing plane found in E. Kalimantan, rescue delayed
Missing plane found in E. Kalimantan, rescue delayed
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Search and Rescue (SAR) team found the cargo plane on
Wednesday that crashed in the vast jungles of East Kalimantan,
but have not been able to rescue the 10 people believed to be on
board yet.
Two of the three rescue planes combing the area where the
plane was believed to have crashed on Tuesday, spotted the body
of the ill-fated aircraft in remote jungle around Papadi and Long
Padi villages, said Zainuddin, the head of Juwata Airport in
Tarakan who also heads the rescue mission.
He said an immediate rescue operation could not be made as it
was already dark.
"It (the rescue) will have to wait until tomorrow morning
(Thursday)," he was quoted as saying by Antara.
The Britton Norman cargo plane with registration number
PK-TAR-BN2A was flying from the town of Tarakan to Krayan.
It was carrying eight passengers and two crew members when
ground control lost contact with the plane near the border of
Malaysia.
Its crew members were pilot Lt. Col. Suyamto and flight
engineer Apriansyah. The passengers were Johannes, Bangau, Yuni,
Andreas, Frans, Philipus, Berli and Mariam, Antara reported.
Zainuddin could not describe the condition of the plane,
saying he was waiting for reports from the SAR members who found
it.
SAR was able to locate the plane with the help of an Emergency
Locator Beacon (ELBA), which can send distress signals for up to
two days non-stop.
Two planes owned by PT Dirgantara Air Service (DAS) and one
used by missionaries of the Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF)
took part in the search operation.
On the ground, some 150 police and military personnel, local
authorities and volunteers combed the dense forests around the
villages of Binuang and Long Bawan.
The crashed plane, took off from the Juwata Airport at 9 a.m.
on Tuesday and was scheduled to land at Yuvai Semaring Airport in
the Krayan subdistrict at 10:10 a.m.
Zainuddin has said the airport made last contact with the
plane at 9.55 a.m. "We contacted Yuvai Semaring Airport and were
informed that the weather in Krayan was clear for landing."