The wreckage of the Indonesian passenger plane carrying 54 people that went missing in Papua region on Sunday was found late in the evening in an isolated region.
Villagers from Camp 3, Ok Bape district in the Bintang Mountains regency have told officials that the plane crashed into the mountains.
Indonesian transport ministry's director-general of air transportation, Suprasetyo said that the plane was found by local villagers after it crashed into Tangok mountain, Sky News reported.
"The plane has been found [by villagers]. According to residents, the flight had crashed into a mountain. Verification is still in process," said the who goes by one name. There is no confirmation just yet of any survivors.
The plane took off from Sentani airport in Papua's capital Jayapura at 05.21 pm and was supposed to land in Oksibil at 05.55 pm (Papua local time). It reportedly lost contact with traffic control 33 minuets after take-off.
Transport ministry spokesman J A Barata confirmed the plane had lost contact."We are not sure what happened to the plane yet and are co-ordinating with local authorities," he told AFP.
"The weather is currently very bad there, it's very dark and cloudy. It's not conducive for a search. The area is mountainous," he added.
Besides 44 adults, there are five children (two infants) and five crew members on the ATR 42 , which is a twin-turboprop, short-haul aircraft. The crew members of Trigana Air comprised of pilot Captain Hasanuddin, co-pilot Aryadin, mechanic officer Mario and female flight attendants Ika and Dita, Kotan TV reported.
A senior official from Trigana Air told CNN Indonesia that the pilot of the plane was 'very experienced'
"He is a very senior, he has been flying ATR for a long time," said Director of Operations Trigana Beny Sumariyanto said.
The passenger plane was operated by Trigana Air Service, an airline based in Jakarta, Indonesia. The ownership record of the missing aircraft available at Planespotters.com shows that it is almost 25 years old.
Indonesia has a patchy aviation safety record. In December, an AirAsia plane flying from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore crashed in the Java Sea during stormy weather, killing all 162 people on board.
Twitter Updates on Missing Trigana Air Service flight 267
Flightradar24 @flightradar24 2h2 hours ago
Missing aircraft in Indonesia is Trigana Air Service ATR 42. Aircraft was not equipped with ADS-B.
Gerry Soejatman @GerryS
If #Trigana #TGN267 is found as an accident, it would be the 2nd this month. Last week 1 died in a Komala Air PAC750XL crash in Indo Papua.
Gerry Soejatman @GerryS
Bape Valley police and army troops dispatched to search for #Trigana #ATR42 #TGN267 #PKYRN to follow up residents reports of crash.
Gerry Soejatman @GerryS
BREAKING: Bape valley residents reportedly saw #Trigana #ATR42 #TGN267 #PKYRN crash.
John Hutchinson @jono_1984
Praying that Trigana Air flight #IL267 re-appears on flight radar, but initial signs are not good. Meant to land 3hrs 30mins ago.
Meanwhile, an ATR 42 from Trigana Air Service went missing in Papua-Indonesia. Lets pray for the safety of everyone on board.
