1st LD: Plane with 54 people aboard loses contact in eastern Indonesia
Xinhua, August 16, 2015 Adjust font size:
A small passenger plane with 54 people on board lost contact in Papua, the easternmost province of Indonesia, on Sunday, the Transport Ministry said.
The ATR-42 plane operated by Trigana Air lost communication with the control tower at 14:55 local time (0555 GMT), said ministry spokesman J.A. Barata.
"Three children and two babies are among the 49 passengers and five crews," he told Xinhua by phone.
The TGN267 flight took off at 14:22 from the Sentani airport in Papua's capital of Jayapura and was expected to arrive at Oksibil at 15:04, he said.
The National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS) said on its Twitter account that a search operation has been launched for the missing plane.
But spokesman Barata said the search was difficult because of unfavorable weather.
On Aug. 12, a small passenger plane crashed when it was trying to land in Ninia airport of Papua, killing one person and badly wounding the pilot and four others.
Small planes have been operated in remote provinces of the archipelago nation of some 17,000 islands. Endi