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Wreckage of missing Grand Caravan aircraft found
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No train, no gain: A joint team comprising Indonesian Military and National Police personnel prepare to carry out an operation to search for a Grand Caravan aircraft, which crashed in Pegunungan Bintang regency, Papua, on April 12. (Courtesy of Associated Mission Aviation (AMA) Papua /File)
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Grand Caravan plane belonging to airline company PT Spirit Avia Sentosa (Flying SAS), which was reported missing, has been found in a search operation conducted by the Associated Mission Aviation (AMA) Papua on Thursday.
Piloted by Capt. Eric Brandon Roberts, an AMA aircraft found the body of the Grand Caravan plane destroyed and in pieces in Pegunungan Bintang regency, Papua. The aircraft was suspected to have hit the side of a mountain in Kampung Kubipko, Kiwirok district, before crashing to the ground on Wednesday.
“The position has been discovered but no search and rescue [SAR] team has landed at the crash site because it is located on a steep mountain slope. It was smashed to pieces possibly because it hit the mountainside,” SAR Jayapura head Suyatno said.
(Read also: Contact with Cessna lost in Papua)
He said the crash site of the aircraft was around 10 kilometers from Oksibil, the capital of Pegunungan Bintang regency. “There is no road access there. One of the only ways to reach the location is via a helicopter.”
Suyatno said the SAR team was coordinating with US-based giant copper and gold miner PT Freeport Indonesia, hoping it could borrow a helicopter from the company. The team had also asked that the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) lend a helicopter to them for the rescue operation.
“The SAR Jayapura team, which comprises 11 people, flew to Oksibil this morning to join with the joint SAR team of the Indonesian Military and National Police that has been ready in Oksibil. The operation will be conducted once the helicopters needed for the rescue activities arrive there,” Suyatno said. (ebf)
