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Bad weather prevents access to crash site
Nethy Dharma Somba , The Jakarta Post , Jayapura | Thu, 11/05/2009 11:53 AM | The Archipelago
Rescuers in Papua province managed on Wednesday morning to locate the police plane that had lost contact with the control tower two days earlier, but failed to reach the crash site due to poor weather conditions.
The Cassa M-28 Skytruck went missing Monday during a flight from Sentani Airport in Jayapura to Mulia Airport in Puncak Jaya regency. The fate of the four crew members on the plane is still unknown, as the joint search mission was unable to reach the crash site.
"The weather was hazy, making it impossible for the SAR team to get down to the site. From 11,200 feet, the team could just make out the plane wreckage," rescue coordinator Suyatno told a news conference at Sentani Airport.
"The team saw the wreckage of the crashed aircraft, although only the red and blue tail of the plane was clearly visible," he added.
Suyatno said the ill-fated plane was first located at around 6:30 a.m. on Mount Dorman, Puncak Jaya, at a height of 10,600 feet above sea level.
The evacuation of the aircraft would start Thursday using a Kamov helicopter with eight rescuers onboard to rappel down to the crash site, as it could take up to four days to walk there from the Dabra post, added Suyatno.
The Dabra post was established near the crash site, around 10 minutes away by air, by the SAR team, currently 24 rescuers, led by Capt., Diani from the Air Force.
Papua Police chief Brig. Gen. Bekto Suprapto, installed last week to replace Insp. Gen. Bagus Ekodanto, also flew to the crash site.
"We circled over the crash site four times and only saw the wreckage of the plane down there. We could not fly any nearer due to the hazy weather," Bekto said at the same press conference in Jayapura.
He refrained from speculating on the fate of the four crew members. "We are just hoping for a positive outcome, as none of us have actually seen the condition of the victims," Bekto said.
Aerial Patrol Unit head Situmorang said Tuesday the Cassa M-28 Skytruck had undergone routine maintenance on Oct. 30, 2009 and had made three flights between Saturday and Monday before losing contact.
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