Wreckage Of Missing Trigana Air Plane Found, 54 Passengers, Crew Dead

By Azeman Ariffin JAKARTA, Aug 19 (Bernama) -- The Trigana Air passenger plane which went missing on Sunday, was found reduced to a total wreck on Tuesday, after it had slammed into a mountain in the Bintang Mountains province in Papua. All 54 passengers and crew of the ATR 42-300 twin-turbo aircraft were killed. A search and rescue (SAR) team recovered the bodies, including those of the five crew members of the commercial flight. Local media quoted Indonesia's National SAR Body (Basarnas) deputy director of operations Heronimus Guru as saying the team was in the midst of retrieving the bodies out of the forested mountain area. He said the plane was found "totally destroyed" as it was believed to have crashed into the Tangok Mountain in the Okbape district. Heronimus said the black box was discovered at the scene, adding it was handed over to the Indonesian Transportation Safety Commission. On Sunday, the aircraft had departed from Bandara Sentani in Jayapura and was scheduled to arrive at the Oksibil Airport in the Bintang Mountains Province at 3pm. However, the aircraft never arrived. Meanwhile, Basarnas chief, FHD Soelistyo was quoted as saying that although all the bodies were found burnt, they could still be identified. "In conclusion, the bodies of all passengers and crew members have been recovered and what is left now is the evacuation process from the scene of the disaster to Oksibil or Jayapura," he said. He added that Basarnas was also working on locating the US$470,134 (Rp6.5 billion) which was carried by four Jayapura Post officers who were part of the passengers. "The money, which was part of the Prosperous Family Savings Programme (PSKS) fund, was for Papua residents. Up till now, we have yet to recover the money." Meanwhile, Social Affairs Minister Khofifah Indar Parawansa said the PSKS fund was insured. "We distribute the fund through postal service or cash. Coincidently, the fund for the Bintang Mountains province residents is in cash," he said. The ill-fated flight carried 49 local passengers. They comprised 44 adults, including four Indonesian postal service personnel, two children and two infants. The five crew members were identified as Hasanudin (pilot), Ariadin (co-pilot), Mario (technician) and flight attendants, Ika and Dita. --BERNAMA