Thick clouds foil search for missing aircraft in Java

Nana Rukmana, The Jakarta Post, Cirebon, West Java

The search and rescue team doubled the number of planes deployed to locate a missing training aircraft to six on Saturday, but their efforts were hampered by thick clouds.

On the third straight day of the search, the rescue team combed mountains between Purwakarta and Cirebon in West Java covering a distance of 120 kilometers only to return home empty handed.

"We have tried to comb the mountain areas starting from Mount Burangrang, Mt Tangkuban Perahu, Mt Tampomas and Mt Ciremai. But bad weather and thick cloud hampered visibility and our efforts to discover the training aircraft," rescue team coordinator Capt. Julikin told reporters upon landing at Penggung Airport here.

Julikin said the rescue team also flew low around flat areas in Jatiwangi and Palimanan, but were unable to detect the missing plane.

The Cessna 172 PK-DCM, operated by Deraya Flying School in Jakarta, is feared to have crashed around Mt. Ciremai on Thursday en route to Halim Perdanakusuma air base in Jakarta from Ahmad Yani Airport in the Central Java capital of Semarang.

Head of PT Deraya Air flight safety division, Capt. Endo Raptadi, said it was difficult to imagine that the three people aboard the light aircraft, instructor Berti Franki Nongsiana, 35, and two students, Gagak E. Kandrian, 25, and Arwin, 25, could have survived.

On the third day of the search on Saturday the rescue team was assisted by the Air Force, the National Search and Rescue Agency and air transportation companies, involving two planes and four helicopters. Another helicopter is standing by at Kalijati air base in Subang.

Julikin, who heads the operational division of PT Deraya Air, said the rescue team relied solely on sight as an emergency locater transmitter attached to the aircraft was not functioning.

"The battery of the electronic device can only last 48 hours after an incident. We actually have not received any signal, probably because the transmitter was broken or the plane crashed on difficult terrain," Julikin said.