Two foreigners missing after small plane crashes in Indonesia's Papua

[News_Editor]

Two foreigners missing after small plane crashes in Indonesia's Papua

2011-09-10 08:01:39 GMT+7 (ICT)

JAYAPURA, INDONESIA (BNO NEWS) -- Two foreigners are missing after their small plane carrying supplies to a remote area crashed during bad weather conditions in Indonesia's Papua region on Friday afternoon, officials said.

The aircraft, a Cessna 108 B Grand Caravan operated by Indonesia's Susi Air, was piloted by Dave Coots from Australia, along with his co-pilot Thomas Munk of Slovakia, sources told the Indonesian Antara news agency.

The aircraft departed at approximately 12.20 p.m. local time from Wamena in the Jayawijaya district of Papua and was heading toward Kenyam, Nduga district, also in Papua. However, the Wamena air traffic control tower soon lost contact with the plane.

The private aviation rescue group Helimision conducted a search operation immediately after receiving the report of a missing plane and was able to locate the crash site near Tangma village in the Yahukimo district, located just south of Jayawijaya district. Due to bad weather conditions it was unable to continue its rescue efforts.

Operations have been halted until Saturday morning, local media reported. Helimision officials said no information was available regarding the aircraft's crew members but officials believe there is little to no chance the men survived the accident.

The two men were reportedly carrying fuel and food to the remote area.

Susi Air is a charter airline based in Pangandaran, West Java. It is known within Indonesia for hiring foreign pilots, despite the country's strict rules of having a certain amount of foreign professionals for each company.

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