A man’s body has been discovered amid the search for 11 individuals on board a missing aircraft suspected to have crashed, with various wreckage pieces also located. The plane vanished while approaching a mountainous area on Sulawesi island, Indonesia, during cloudy conditions. A search team recovered the body in a deep ravine on Mount Bulusaraung’s slope, near scattered plane debris.
Muhammad Arif Anwar, leading Makassar’s Search and Rescue Office, confirmed the ongoing body retrieval operation. The team has found additional wreckage, such as aircraft frame parts and passenger seats, along with a potentially identified engine.
While the body has not been formally identified, it is presumed to be from the turboprop ATR 42-500 that disappeared en route from Yogyakarta to Makassar. The aircraft, operated by Indonesia Air Transport, was last detected in the Leang-Leang area of Maros, South Sulawesi, carrying eight crew members and three passengers from the Marine Affairs and Fisheries Ministry.
Rescue efforts, despite challenging weather conditions, have progressed with the discovery of significant aircraft sections, aiding in narrowing the search area. Ground and air teams are pushing forward, focusing on locating potential survivors among the victims. Over 100 personnel, including elite army units, are involved in the search operation, confronting adverse weather conditions that have impeded progress.
Indonesia, heavily reliant on air and sea transport due to its numerous islands, has faced a series of transportation mishaps in recent years, highlighting the challenges of the country’s transportation infrastructure.