Jayapura, Papua (ANTARA) - A joint Search and Rescue (SAR) team has located the wreckage of a Cessna Grand Caravan C208B aircraft operated by Semuwa Air, which was reported lost on Friday morning.
The aircraft was found crashed in the wilderness of Yalimo district, Highland Papua.
Operational chief of the Jayapura Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas), Marinus Ohoirat, confirmed the crash site was found at 4:08 p.m. local time, midway between the Elelim and Poik regions.
The crash site was located by a helicopter of PT Intan Angkasa which was flown from Wamena at 3:30 p.m.
The Cessna aircraft, bearing the registration code PK-SMW, was found destroyed, with smoke emanating from the fuselage.
Visual observations showed that only the rear part of the aircraft, including stabilizers, remained intact.
"There has been no information about the passengers' conditions yet," Ohoirat informed.
According to the official, a Susi Air aircraft, which flew from Wamena to Elelim, had earlier assisted in searching for the lost aircraft. However, the effort had been fruitless.
Earlier, the commander of Jayapura's Silas Papare Airfield, Air Commodore Dadan Gunawan, confirmed that he had been informed about the disappearance of Semuwa Air's aircraft.
"Yes, we have been informed about the Grand Caravan C208B aircraft, registration code PK-SMW, lost contact on its flight from Elelim to Poik in Yalimo district, Highland Papua," Gunawan said.
The aircraft, crewed by pilot Hari Permadi and First Officer Levi Murib, was reported to have departed from Elelim at 10:53 a.m. local time and was scheduled to arrive in Poik at 11:06 a.m.
However, the aircraft failed to arrive in Poik at the scheduled time.
The air commodore informed that PK-SMW aircraft's last position, according to satellite tracking, was at the coordinates 03 52 43.67S 139 27 16.07E, with its final flight altitude recorded at 6,956 feet.
