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Searchers spot wreckage of missing Indonesia passenger plane

WATCH ABOVE: Hena Daniels explains how ground teams are trying to reach the crash site.

JAYAPURA, Indonesia — Rescue officials say a search plane has spotted the wreckage of an Indonesian passenger plane that went missing with 54 people onboard.

There was no immediate word if there were any survivors from the crash, which happened in bad weather on Sunday in Indonesia’s mountainous easternmost province of Papua.

Officials said the wreckage was spotted about 12 kilometers (7 miles) from its destination of Oksibil.

In this photo taken Dec. 26, 2010, Trigana Air Service’s ATR42-300 twin turboprop plane takes off at Supadio airport in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, Indonesia. The same type of a Trigana airliner carrying 54 people was missing Sunday, Aug. 16, 2015. AP Photo

Residents spot low flying plane

Residents of Okbape village in Papua’s Bintang district told local police that they saw a plane flying low before crashing into a mountain, said Susanto, who like many Indonesians goes by one name. He said about 150 rescuers were heading to the remote area, which is known for its dense forest and steep cliffs, and would begin searching for the plane early Monday.

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Okbape is about 24 kilometres (15 miles) west of Oksibil.

At a news conference Sunday night at the transport ministry in Jakarta, officials said they would not have any details on the villagers’ report until rescuers reach the area.

“We are now working closely with the National Search and Rescue Agency to find the plane,” said Transport Minister Ignasius Jonan.

A plane was sent Sunday to look for the missing airliner, but the search was suspended due to darkness and limited visibility and will resume Monday morning, Susanto said.

Much of Papua is covered with impenetrable jungles and mountains. Some planes that have crashed there in the past have never been found.

Dudi Sudibyo, an aviation analyst, said that Papua is a particularly dangerous place to fly because of its mountainous terrain and rapidly changing weather patterns. “I can say that a pilot who is capable of flying there will be able to fly an aircraft in any part of the world,” he said.

Indonesia has had its share of airline woes in recent years. The sprawling archipelago nation of 250 million people and some 17,000 islands is one of Asia’s most rapidly expanding airline markets, but is struggling to provide enough qualified pilots, mechanics, air traffic controllers and updated airport technology to ensure safety.

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From 2007 to 2009, the European Union barred Indonesian airlines from flying to Europe because of safety concerns.

Last December, all 162 people aboard an AirAsia jet were killed when the plane plummeted into the Java Sea as it ran into stormy weather on its way from Surabaya, Indonesia’s second-largest city, to Singapore.

That disaster was one of five suffered by Asian carriers in a 12-month span, including Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which went missing in March 2014 with 239 people aboard during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

Trigana Air Service, which commenced operations in 1991, had 22 aircraft as of December 2013 and flies to 21 destinations in Indonesia.

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