13 killed in Indonesian air force plane crash

December 19, 2016 | 09:04

(0) user say

JAKARTA: Thirteen people have died after an Indonesian military transport plane crashed in the east of the country on Sunday, officials said, marking yet another air accident for the armed forces.

Indonesian soldiers examining the Hercules military plane A-1334 that crashed in Wamena on Dec 18, 2016. (Photo: AFP/Search and Rescue Team/Handout)

The Hercules C-130 plane took off from Timika city in Papua province carrying 12 crew and one passenger, but came down in a remote mountainous region shortly before its scheduled landing, officials said.

"The operator on land saw the plane at 06:08 am local time but at 06:09 am the plane had lost contact," air force chief Agus Supriatna told AFP.

The plane was expected to land at 6.13 am local time (7.13am Singapore time)

Aboard the aircraft were three pilots, eight technicians, a navigator and a military officer, as well as food and cement, Supriatna said.

Weather around the area is known to be unpredictable, and the plane went in and out of clouds before the crash, he added.

Rescuers located the plane debris soon after. All 13 bodies have been recovered according to the air force. Supriatna said a team was heading to the site to investigate.

The fatal incident is the latest for Indonesia's accident-prone military.

In November an army helicopter accident killed three on Borneo, while another three died when a military chopper went into a home in Central Java in July.

Twelve people were killed in March when another military helicopter went down in bad weather on Sulawesi in central Indonesia.

But the worst incident in recent times was in June 2015, when an air force Hercules C-130 plane crashed into a residential neighbourhood in the city of Medan, killing 142 people and causing widespread destruction.

AFP

What the stars mean:

★ Poor ★ ★ Promising ★★★ Good ★★★★ Very good ★★★★★ Exceptional