Cargo plane Twin Otter, belonging to PT Carpediem, went missing on September 18. (Photo: Antara)
Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesia launched a search and rescue operationto trace cargo plane Twin Otter that lost contact with air trafficcontrol on September 18.
Indonesia’s Antara news agency reported the aircraft with four people on boardincluding a pilot, a flight officer, an engineer and a passenger, went missingwhile en route from the Moses Kilangain airport in Timika, Mimika district toIlaga, the capital city of Puncak district, Papua province.
Ambar Suryoko, head of the Moses Kilangain Airport, said the chartered aircraftbelonged to PT Carpediem, and it was carrying 1.6 tonnes of rice for the StateLogistics Agency (Bulog).
Head of the Jayapura Search and Rescue Agency Putu Agra said the missingaircraft took off from Timika at 10:36 a.m (local time), and was scheduled toland at Ilaga at 11:09 a.m (local time).
The search operation had yet to successfully locate the missing aircraft, whileits fuel would have run out after being airborne for two hours and thirtyminutes, he said.
Papua province is a problematic place to fly due to its mountainous terrain andfrequent poor weather. On June 28, the Indonesian Army’s MI-17 helicopter with12 people on board lost contact just minutes after it took off from a remoteOksibil district to Sentani district. The debris of the aircraft has not beenfound.
Earlier in 2016, a cargo plane carrying construction materials crashed inIlaga, killing all four people on board./.
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Cargo plane Twin Otter, belonging to PT Carpediem, went missing on September 18. (Photo: Antara) 
