Search and rescue mission to begin on crashed Merpati plane

Military forces are now preparing to deploy a team of eight personnel to the crash site of a Merpati Airlines Twin Otter plane at Abmisibil, Pegunungan Bintang regency in Papua.

Chief of Sentani Airbase Col. Suwandi has informed Antara news agency that the team, which includes a doctor, will depart aboard a Kamov helicopter.

''We are still making preparations, and have anticipated a plan of action in case the chopper cannot land,'' he said.

A search flight reported early Tuesday morning that it spotted the crashed plane in Abmisibil. However, it could provide no report on the passengers' condition at the time.

The plane, which had 16 passengers on board, was flying from the Papuan capital of Jayapura to Oksibil when it lost contact with monitoring officials on the ground and went missing. (dre)