Indonesian rescue teams on Sunday retrieved a body and scattered wreckage from a plane that reportedly crashed in the mountainous region of Sulawesi island while approaching its destination amid cloudy weather.
The body of a man was found in a ravine about 200 meters deep on the slope of Mount Bulusaraung, near aircraft debris, said Muhammad Arif Anwar, head of Makassar’s Search and Rescue Office and coordinator of the mission. The evacuation of the body is currently underway.
Rescuers also recovered parts of the plane’s frame, passenger seats, and what is believed to be the engine. The aircraft, a turboprop ATR 42-500 operated by Indonesia Air Transport, was flying from Yogyakarta on Java island to Makassar, the capital of South Sulawesi, when it disappeared from radar on Saturday shortly after being instructed to adjust its approach alignment.
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The flight carried eight crew members and three passengers from the Marine Affairs and Fisheries Ministry, who were on a maritime surveillance mission. The plane was last tracked at 1:17 p.m. in the Leang-Leang area of Maros, a mountainous district of South Sulawesi.
An air force helicopter team spotted a small aircraft window in the forested mountains on Sunday morning. Ground teams later located larger debris, including the fuselage and tail sections, on a steep northern slope. “The discovery of the aircraft’s main sections significantly narrows the search zone,” Anwar said, adding that teams are focusing on locating survivors.
Rescue efforts are being hampered by strong winds, thick fog, steep terrain, and heavy rain, Maj. Gen. Bangun Nawoko, Hasanuddin military commander in South Sulawesi, said. Over 100 personnel, including elite army search and rescue units, are involved in the operation.
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Photos and videos released by the National Search and Rescue Agency show rescuers navigating a narrow mountain ridgeline covered in thick fog to reach the scattered wreckage.
Indonesia, an archipelago of over 17,000 islands, relies heavily on air travel and ferries and has faced numerous transportation accidents in recent years, from plane and bus crashes to ferry sinkings.