INDONESIA-PLANE/NEWSER Indonesia removes bodies from plane crash site despite bad weather

Record ID: 143051

  • Title: INDONESIA-PLANE/NEWSER Indonesia removes bodies from plane crash site despite bad weather
  • Date: 19th August 2015
  • Summary: JAKARTA, INDONESIA (AUGUST 19, 2015) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF NATIONAL SEARCH AND RESCUE AGENCY HEADQUARTERS SIGNBOARD OF SEARCH AND RESCUE AGENCY DEPUTY OPERATIONAL OFFICER OF SEARCH AND RESCUE AGENCY, HERONIMUS GURU, AND OTHER OFFICIALS PREPARING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Bahasa Indonesia) DEPUTY OPERATIONAL OFFICER OF SEARCH AND RESCUE AGENCY, HERONIMUS GURU SAYING:
  • Embargoed: 3rd September 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Indonesia
  • Country: Indonesia
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAACEUULFZHRTWS1KNBYZ3Y4LJR
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Indonesia search team started to retrieve bodies of 54 people killed in a plane crash in the mountainous area of the remote Papua province on Wednesday (August 19).
    All 54 people on board the Trigana Air aircraft were killed in the crash on Sunday (August 16), the latest in a string of aviation disasters in the Southeast Asian archipelago.
    The treacherous terrain of forest-covered ridges hampered rescuers' efforts to reach the site where the Trigana Air Service ATR 42-300 plane came down.
    Deputy Operational Officer of Indonesia's Search and Rescue Agency, Heronimus Guru, told reporters that his team was still searching for the flight data recorders.
    Media reports earlier said both black boxes had been recovered, but Indonesian officials said on Wednesday that only the cockpit voice recorder had been found.
    "There are still ten personnels (search and rescue) at the site, but I do not know how many of them are searching for FDR (Flight Data Recorder)," Guru said, adding the recovery operation was hampered by rain.
    There were 44 adult passengers, five children and infants and five crew on the short-haul flight from provincial capital Jayapura south to Oksibil. All people on board were Indonesian.
    The twin turboprop aircraft was also carrying about $470,000 as part of a village assistance programme. Poor infrastructure in the region means aid money is often flown in by air.
    "The money was kept in two bags. One bag is in complete condition and the other is burned. Chief of the Search and Rescue Agency has ordered to safeguard the money and bring it to Sentani airport in Jayapura and hand it over to the authorities," said Guru.
    On Wednesday, bodies of 27 victims were sent to an Oksibil hospital, while another four were transferred by air to Jayapura. Remains of the rest 23 victims were still in the crashed site.
    "Now we have collected 31 body bags, 27 of them are already in an Oksibil hospital and four were sent to Jayapura," said Guru.
    Air transport is commonly used in Papua, Indonesia's easternmost province, where land travel is often impossible.
    Trigana Air Service has had 14 serious incidents since it began operations in 1991, according to the Aviation Safety Network. Excluding this latest incident, it has written off 10 aircraft.
    The airline has been on the European Union's list of banned carriers since 2007 due to safety or regulatory concerns.
    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.
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