An Indonesian passenger plane that crashed with 54 people on board in Papua province was carrying cash worth around $470,000 for remote villages, a post office spokesman said on Monday as rescue teams headed to the mountainous site where it went down.
The Trigana Air Service ATR 42-300 plane crashed on Sunday, the latest in a string of aviation disasters in the sprawling Southeast Asian archipelago.
Earlier, a search and rescue plane spotted debris believed to be from the aircraft in the heavily forested Bintang Mountains district, local police chief Yunus Wally told the Antara news agency, adding that a search team was approaching the area. (Map of Papua region: http://link.reuters.com/nak45w)
There were 44 adult passengers, five children and infants and five crew on the Trigana short-haul flight from Sentani Airport in Jayapura, capital of Papua, south to Oksibil.
All those on the plane were Indonesian nationals, a National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS) official said.
Airline officials were not immediately available to respond to questions from Reuters.
There was no suggestion that the large sum of money being transported on the plane was linked to its crash.
"There were four people carrying the money, 6.5 billion rupiah ($471,500)," PT Pos spokesman Abu Sofjan said, adding that it was part of an official assistance programme for the poor and was intended to be distributed to villagers.
He said poor infrastructure in Indonesia's easternmost province meant that assistance money was often flown in by air.
A Super Puma helicopter crashed in the same area last year, said Sito, a BASARNAS communications operator in Jayapura who goes by one name. "It's the weather there, it changes all the time. In the morning it can be clear and hot and then suddenly it rains," Sito said.
The crashed ATR 42-300 made its first flight 27 years ago, according to the Aviation Safety Network. Trigana Air Service has a fleet of 14 aircraft, with an average age of 26.6 years, according to the airfleets.com database.
Trigana has been on the European Union's list of banned carriers since 2007 due to safety or regulatory concerns.
It has had 14 serious incidents since it began operations in 1991, according to the online database Aviation Safety Network.
Excluding the latest crash, it has written off 10 aircraft.
Indonesia has a patchy aviation safety record and has seen two major plane crashes in the past year, including an AirAsia flight that went down in the Java Sea, killing all 162 on board.
Indonesia's president promised a review of the ageing air force fleet in July after a military transport plane crashed, killing more than 100 people.
Reuters
Mon Aug 17 2015
All those on the plane were Indonesian nationals, a National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS) official said.
Kru kapal dikaitkan dengan Israel dibebaskan
Iran berkata pembebasan anak kapal adalah tindakan kemanusiaan dan mereka boleh pulang ke negara mereka bersama kapten kapal.
Agensi Risikan Seoul beri amaran Korea Utara rancang serangan ke atas kedutaan
Agensi Risikan Korea Selatan mengeluarkan amaran Pyongyang sedang merancang serangan yang menyasarkan pegawai dan rakyat Seoul di luar negara, dan kementerian luar perlu meningkatkan tahap amaran untuk misi diplomatik di lima negara.
20 terkorban bas terjatuh dalam gaung di utara Pakistan
Bas berkenaan dalam perjalanan ke kawasan pergunungan utara Gilgit-Baltistan dari Rawalpindi di wilayah timur Pakistan.
MKT UMNO beri komitmen sokong kempen calon PH
Mesyuarat Majlis Kerja Tertinggi (MKT) UMNO bersetuju untuk memberi komitmen penuh untuk membantu calon Pakatan Harapan (PH), Pang Sock Tao pada Pilihan Raya Kecil (PRK) Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) Kuala Kubu Baharu, pada 11 Mei ini.
Laluan alternatif hubungkan Sibu-Kapit akan dibina
Satu jajaran jalan baharu akan dibina sebagai laluan alternatif yang akan menghubungkan Sibu dengan Kapit melibatkan jarak kira-kira 66 kilometer (km).
UNESCO anugerahkan hadiah kepada wartawan Palestin
Wartawan berkenaan dianugerahkan Hadiah Kebebasan Akhbar Dunia UNESCO/Guillermo Cano 2024 pada Khamis di Chile, lapor agensi berita Jerman (DPA).
Malaysia, Jepun bincang kerjasama perdagangan, pertanian
Malaysia dan Jepun mengadakan perbincangan dua hala yang antara lain menyentuh mengenai perdagangan, pertanian dan peranan Malaysia sebagai hab halal yang boleh dimanfaatkan negara itu.
Mohamad wakili PM ketengah isu kepentingan Islam
Menteri Luar Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan akan mengetuai delegasi Malaysia selaku wakil Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim ke Sesi Ke-15 Sidang Kemuncak Pertubuhan Kerjasama Islam (OIC) di Banjul, Gambia dari 4 hingga 5 Mei ini.
Malaysia berpeluang berkembang dengan kemajuan teknologi
Mengambil contoh Malaysia sebagai negara berpendapatan sederhana, beliau berkata keutamaan yang harus dilijat ia seberapa cepat teknologi berkenaan boleh disebarkan ke seluruh ekonomi, dan memanfaatkan sektor seperti penjagaan kesihatan dan pendidikan.
Rakyat perlu kuasai AI untuk tentukan sendiri nilai moral, budaya - PM
Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.berkata jika AI tidak dikuasai, nilai dan moral dalam teknologi itu akan ditentukan oleh pihak-pihak yang menguasainya terutama dari barat.
Laman web UPUOnline ada masalah, tidak boleh diakses?
Ramai yang teruja namun perasaan itu terbantut seketika apabila ramai mendakwa laman web UPUOnline menghadapi masalah.
Pencarian 'kotak hitam' kedua pesawat Sriwijaya Air diteruskan
Kotak hitam pertama ditemui pasukan penyelamat di sekitar Pulau Laki dan Pulau Lancang pada Selasa.
Indonesian jet flew erratically the day before it crashed
The Lion Air Boeing 737 MAX jet that crashed in Indonesia on Monday morning flew erratically during a flight the previous evening when it experienced a "technical problem".
Peminat BTS punca laman web, aplikasi GSC tidak berfungsi!
Kumpulan K-Pop terkenal Korea Selatan, BTS bukan sahaja menggegarkan pentas dunia, malah turut menggoncang dunia internet!
Penumpang cemas selepas pesawat Germanwings terima ancaman bom
Para penumpang dan anak kapal penerbangan Germanwings dari Cologne, Jerman ke Milan, Itali cemas seketika apabila diarahkan mengosongkan pesawat susulan mendapat ancaman bom.
Laporan nahas genting didedahkan kepada umum
Orang ramai dijemput membaca laporan penuh berhubung nahas bas terjunam di Genting Highlands pada 21 Ogos tahun lalu.