Bodies Of 10 Found After Indonesian Surveillance Plane Crash

by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent

JAKARTA (Worthy News) – Indonesian rescuers have found the bodies of all 10 passengers from a fishery surveillance plane that crashed in the country’s South Sulawesi province over the weekend, officials confirmed Friday.

An ATR 42-500 turboprop owned by Indonesia Air Transport (IAT) lost contact with air traffic control on Saturday at about 1:30 p.m. local time while flying near the Maros region in South Sulawesi, the nation’s national search and rescue agency said.

There were seven crew members and three passengers on board — all ministry staff — on a flight chartered by Indonesia’s Marine Affairs and Fisheries Ministry to conduct air surveillance.

Andi Sultan of South Sulawesi’s rescue agency said rescuers located the ninth and tenth bodies early Friday, and the evacuation of remains was ongoing.

WRECKAGE FOUND NEAR MOUNTAINS

Local teams had previously discovered scattered wreckage of the aircraft around Mount Bulusaraung in the Maros region, northeast of the capital Jakarta, search officials said.

Indonesia’s National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) is investigating the aircraft’s black box, which was recovered earlier this week and will be analysed to determine the cause of the crash.

The ATR 42-500 was chartered for a maritime surveillance mission from Yogyakarta to Makassar when it went missing.

Authorities say it was the first deadly crash involving this aircraft type in Indonesia in more than a decade.

SAFETY RECORD AND AVIATION CONTEXT

Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim nation, has a long history of transportation accidents due to the country’s reliance on air and sea links across its thousands of islands.

The European Union previously maintained an airline safety blacklist for Indonesian carriers, though all Indonesian airlines were removed from it after improvements in safety oversight.

Experts say the crash highlights ongoing concerns about aviation safety and infrastructure in the region, even as authorities stress they are working to meet international standards.

The tragedy comes as Indonesia continues to cope with severe flooding in Jakarta and other areas, with reports of fatalities and widespread damage from recent downpours.

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