Jakarta (VNA) — Indonesian search and rescue forces on January 18 found wreckage of a missing aircraft believed to have crashed a day earlier while approaching a mountainous area on Sulawesi Island amid cloudy weather.
A military helicopter participating in the search spotted a fragment believed to be an aircraft window in a forest on the slopes of Mount Bulusaraung. Shortly afterwards, ground rescue teams discovered several large pieces of debris, thought to be parts of the main fuselage and tail section, scattered along a steep mountainside.
Muhammad Arif Anwar, head of the Makassar Search and Rescue Agency, said the identification of major aircraft components had significantly narrowed the search area, providing a basis for focusing efforts on locating the victims, particularly the possibility of finding survivors.
However, rescue operations are facing major challenges due to strong winds, dense fog and rugged mountainous terrain. Both aerial and ground rescue teams are continuing their efforts to reach the crash site.
Images released by Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency showed rescue personnel climbing narrow, slippery mountain slopes under extremely limited visibility.
Earlier, the turboprop ATR 42-500 aircraft, operated by Indonesia Air Transport, encountered an accident while flying from Yogyakarta city on Java Island to Makassar, the capital of South Sulawesi province. The aircraft disappeared from radar data on the afternoon of January 17, shortly after air traffic control requested an adjustment to its approach.
According to authorities, the plane was last recorded at 1:17 pm (local time) in the Leang-Leang area of Maros district, a rugged mountainous region of South Sulawesi. There were 11 people on board, including eight crew members and three officials from the Indonesia’s Marine Affairs and Fisheries Ministry, who were conducting air surveillance on fisheries.
Indonesia is an archipelagic country with more than 17,000 islands and relies heavily on air and sea transport. However, it has recorded a series of serious transport accidents in recent years, involving aircraft, buses and ferries./.
