Tue, 18 Feb 2003

Search for missing plane abandoned

Nana Rukmana The Jakarta Post Kuningan, West Java

The National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) has given up its search for a Cessna 172 PK-DCM light training aircraft that went down during a flight from Semarang, Central Java, to Jakarta.

The agency also declared the ill-fated aircraft and the three persons on board officially missing.

Agency director Commodore Yayun Riyanto announced the decision on Sunday afternoon at a command post in Setianegara village, Cilimus district, Kuningan Regency, after a final effort was made to find the plane.

The search was abandoned 10 days after the plane went missing on Feb. 6.

Kuningan Military District Commander Lt. Col. Harry Suharyanto said that during the search operations his men had combed 16 sites around Mount Ciremai, parts of which lie in Kuningan and Majalengka regencies.

A total of 69 trained personnel and 206 volunteers from government offices and organizations took part in the search, covering an estimated 14-square-kilometer area.

Suharyanto blamed bad weather for their searchers failure to find the place.

Yayun said that the halting of the search was based on Government Regulation No. 12/2000 which says that a search can be abandoned if the object has been discovered, evacuated, or not been found within seven days of searching.

"Since the mandatory search period has expired, the halting of the operation is in accordance with the procedures," Yayun added.

According to Yayun, the team could reactivate the operation should any indications be found of where the plane went down.

Asked whether the aircraft might have plunged into the Java Sea, Yayun said the possibility was remote.

The missing aircraft, which belonged to PT Deraya Air Service, was last seen above Cirebon, West Java, and was crewed by flight instructor Berty Franky Nongsina, 32, with two students, Gagak Eskandarian, 22, and Prasetyo Arwin Bunandir, 26, on board

The aircraft took off from Achmad Yani Airport in Semarang, Central Java, at 10:47 a.m. and was scheduled to land at Halim Perdanakusuma airport at 12.50 p.m.

But Air Traffic Control officials said they lost contact with the plane at 11:40 a.m.