A body has been discovered among the wreckage of a fisheries surveillance plane that went missing in Indonesia’s South Sulawesi province. The ATR 42-500 turboprop, operated by Indonesia Air Transport, lost contact with air traffic control on Saturday at approximately 1:30 PM local time near the Maros region.
Indonesian authorities confirmed on Sunday that the remains of one of the ten individuals on board were found on the fog-covered slopes of a mountain. The plane, chartered by the Marine Affairs and Fisheries Ministry, carried seven crew members and three ministry staff passengers. Initial reports mistakenly indicated eight crew members were aboard.
Search and Rescue Efforts
Rescue teams located the wreckage in various locations around Mount Bulusaraung, roughly 1,500 kilometers northeast of Jakarta. Andi Sultan, an official from South Sulawesi’s rescue agency, noted that the thick fog and challenging terrain hindered the search efforts. “Our helicopter crews have seen the debris of the plane’s window at 7:46 AM,” Sultan stated. “And around 7:49 AM, we discovered large parts of the aircraft, suspected to be the fuselage.”
The tail section of the aircraft was also identified at the mountain’s base. The body of a crash victim was found in a ravine about 200 meters from the mountain’s peak. The status of the remaining nine individuals remains uncertain. Muhammad Arif Anwar, head of South Sulawesi’s rescue agency, emphasized the priority of locating the victims, deploying 1,200 personnel for the search.
Investigation and Possible Causes
The cause of the crash remains undetermined. Soerjanto Tjahjono, head of Indonesia’s National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT), indicated that preliminary findings suggest the aircraft crashed into the mountain slope. “We call this controlled flight into terrain. The pilot was able to control the plane, and the crash was not intentional,” Tjahjono explained to local media in Makassar.
Flight tracking data from Flightradar24 revealed that the plane was flying at a low altitude over the ocean, limiting tracking coverage. The last signal was received at 0420 GMT, approximately 20 kilometers northeast of Makassar airport.
Historical Context
This incident marks the first fatal ATR 42 crash in Indonesia in over a decade. In 2015, a Trigana Air Service ATR 42-300 crashed into a mountainside in Papua, resulting in 54 fatalities. Aviation experts often attribute such accidents to a combination of factors, including human error and environmental conditions.
“Most accidents are caused by a combination of factors,” aviation experts note.
The ATR 42-500, manufactured by Franco-Italian planemaker ATR, is a regional turboprop aircraft designed to carry between 42 and 50 passengers. The model is widely used for short-haul flights in remote and challenging environments.
Implications and Next Steps
The discovery of the wreckage and the ongoing investigation into the crash’s cause highlight the challenges faced by aviation in Indonesia’s diverse and often difficult terrain. As search efforts continue, authorities are focused on recovering the remaining victims and piecing together the events leading to the crash.
The incident underscores the importance of rigorous safety protocols and the need for advanced tracking technologies to prevent similar tragedies in the future. As the investigation progresses, the aviation community will closely monitor findings to enhance safety measures and prevent recurrence.
