A regional airliner carrying 11 people lost contact with ground control on Saturday as it approached a mountainous area between Indonesia’s main island of Java and the island of Sulawesi, officials said. A search and rescue operation is currently underway.
Indah Purnama Sari, spokesman for the Ministry of Transport, said the ATR 42-500 plane operated by the Indonesian Air Transport Company was en route from Yogyakarta to the capital of South Sulawesi when it disappeared from radar screens. The plane was last tracked at 01:17 pm local time in the Liang Liang district of Maros, a mountainous area in South Sulawesi province.
Multiple search and rescue teams have been deployed, supported by helicopters, drones and air force ground units, Sari said in a statement.
Hopes of locating the wreckage rose after hikers on Mount Bulusarong reported finding scattered debris, an emblem consistent with Indonesian air transport markings, and small fires still burning at the scene.
“These sightings have been reported to the authorities and are being verified by rescue teams trying to reach the area,” said Maj. Gen. Bangun Naoko, Hasanuddin’s military commander in South Sulawesi.
Sari said the plane disappeared shortly after receiving instructions from air traffic control to correct its approach path. “Following ATC’s final instructions, radio contact was lost and controllers declared the emergency phase.”
She added that rescue teams focused their search around the mountains where it is believed that the plane, carrying a crew of eight and three passengers from the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, deviated from its course towards Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport.
Surrey said weather conditions at the time indicated cloudiness and visibility of about 5 miles.
Naoko said the steep terrain in Bulusarong National Park, which links the Maros and Pangkep regions, complicated search efforts.