Remnants of the missing Indonesian plane have been discovered in the remote Western Papua region. Fifty-four passengers went down with the Trigana Air flight. There is no known survivor at this time.
Parts of the aircraft were found by the locals of the Bintang Highlands Region. Bintang Mountains Regency Police Chief Yunus Wally confirmed the debris was seen near the Oksop waterfall. Wally added that the ground search teams were preparing to head to the area.
The flight took off from Sentani airport in Jayapura, Indonesia, at 2:21 p.m. Sunday. After an hour and a half, the plane lost contact. It never landed in the town of Oksibil, the supposed destination, reported the Guardian.
Initial findings blamed the accident on bad weather, reported BBC News.
According to Indonesian Director-General for Air Transportation Susprasetyo, the Tangok Mountain villagers witnessed the plane crash and rushed to authorities to report the incident. Immediate search and rescue efforts were difficult due to harsh weather conditions. The search plane was forced to turn back, reported FT.
The crash is Trigana Air's 14th serious incident since it started taking passengers in 1991. The company lost 10 planes, according to the Aviation Safety Network. The European Union has blacklisted the airline company since 2007.
Several aerial tragedies have occurred in Indonesia recently. In December 2014, 192 people died when an AirAsia flight crashed in the Java Sea. In July, a military transport plane crashed in a residential area in Medan, Sumatra, claiming 140 lives.
