Pesawat Kargo Rimbun Air Ditemukan Jatuh di Intan Jaya Papua
Small Plane Crashes in Indonesia´s Papua; Search on for Crew
Editor : Kemal A Praghotsa
Translator : Novita Cahyadi
PESAWAT Rimbun Air Cargo ditemukan jatuh di hutan dalam dan curam sekitar Distrik Sugapa, Kabupaten Intan Jaya, Papua, Rabu [15/9]. Pesawat kargo tersebut berisi tiga awak pesawat, yang dirilis oleh Badan Nasional Pencarian dan Pertolongan [Basarnas].
Kepala Basarnas Timika, George Mercy L Randang mengatakan timnya telah bergerak ke daerah itu untuk mencoba menentukan kondisi tiga awak pesawat dan cara terbaik untuk mengevakuasi mereka.
"Kondisi cuaca pada pagi hari saat pesawat take off cerah tetapi di tempat pesawat jatuh itu mendung," katanya.
Pencarian udara memastikan pesawat kargo jatuh di Intan Jaya dalam kodisi hancur di darat.
Sebanyak 10 petugas dari Basarnas, TNI dan Polisi dikerahkan ke lokasi untuk menemukan dan menilai kru.
"Yang penting sekarang tim sudah ada," kata Randang.
Keterangan dari Kementerian Perhubungan RI menyebutkan bahwa otoritas setempat kehilangan kontak dengan pesawat Twin Otter 300 sekitar 50 menit setelah lepas landas. Itu menuju ke distrik Intan Jaya dari distrik Nabre dengan bahan konstruksi di atas kapal, seperti dikutip Associated Press yang dilansir MailOnline.
A SMALL cargo plane crashed in steep mountainous forest of Indonesia´s easternmost Papua province Wednesday, officials confirmed after an aerial search located the lost Rimbun Air plane.
A search and rescue team has moved to the area to try to determine the conditions of the plane´s three crew members and the best way to evacuate them, Timika rescue agency Chief George Leo Mercy Randang said.
The Transportation Ministry previously said the local authority lost contact with the Twin Otter 300 plane about 50 minutes after takeoff. It was heading to Intan Jaya district from Nabre district with construction materials on board.
Randang said the weather conditions in the morning when the plane took off were sunny. But it was cloudy where the plane crashed.
The aerial search confirmed the cargo plane crashed in Intan Jaya and was in a destroyed condition on the ground.
At least 10 officers from the search agency, the Indonesian military and national police are trekking to the site to find and assess the crew.
"The important thing for now is to get the team" there, Randang said.
Indonesia, a sprawling archipelago nation of about 270 million people, has been plagued by transportation accidents in recent years, including plane crashes and ferry sinkings.
