Plane crash leaves 18 dead in Indonesia

Indonesia, September 29: All 18 people aboard a small plane on a local flight in western Indonesia are feared dead after their aircraft crashed into a mountainous area.

Bambang Ervan, spokesman for Indonesia’s Transport Ministry, said the turboprop-powered CASA C-212 Aviocar plane, operated by PT Nusantara Buana Air, was flying from the city of Medan, located 1,402 kilometers (871 miles) northwest of the capital Jakarta, to Kutacane town, located 1,470 kilometers (913 miles) northwest of Jakarta, when it lost contact with air traffic control on Thursday, AFP reported.

The Spanish-designed aircraft sent out a distress signal minutes later, and then dropped off the radar.

The remains of the Short Take-off and Landing (STOL) plane were spotted in the vicinity of Bukit Lawang village in Bohorok district of Indonesia’s North Sumatra Province.

The wreckage appeared to be largely intact, with wings still fused to the aircraft body. However, there were no signs of the 14 passengers and four crew members.

Robur Rizallianto, a PT Nusantara Buana Air official, said the plane was in good condition, and a check prior to its takeoff on Thursday also came up clean.

Indonesia has been recently plagued by aviation accidents.

On September 22, a small plane went down in Indonesia’s remote eastern province of Papua, killing all three people on board, including the American pilot.

A cargo plane also crashed in Wamena town on September 9, killing its Australian pilot and his Slovakian co-pilot.

—Agencies