The Ministry's Acting Director General of Air Transportation, Nur Isnin Istiartono, said here on Thursday that of the 11 victims, 10 people had been evacuated safely, while one missing toddler was still unaccounted for.
Earlier, Istiartono said that his party has received a report of a plane accident on registration number PK-DAR/B412 belonging to PT Derazona with a flight route of Jila to Timika Papua at 9:20 a.m. local time.
"This PK-DAR aircraft was chartered by the Mimika Regional Government for the 'Air Mobile Health Center' program. This aircraft would fly on the Timika-Jila-Timika route," Istiartono said.
He explained that initially, the plane flew from the Mimika District Head's Office to the health center located in Jila, carrying paramedics and patients who needed health care, one of which was a woman giving birth with the placenta not delivered.
After that, the plane flew back from Jila to Timika with 11 people consisting of the pilot, co-pilot, six adult passengers, and three children.
During the flight, the plane made an emergency landing due to bad weather.
Through monitoring from state aircraft navigation provider AirNav and satellite phone calls, the coordinates of the plane's emergency landing were found, and the joint SAR team quickly traveled to the location point.
"We are very grateful for the assistance of AirNav, the joint SAR Team consisting of Air Force and Mimika Police, Mozes Kilangin Airport Operational Unit, PT. Freeport Emergency Response Group, the Mimika Health Office, and other elements involved in the evacuation," Istiartono said.
"Hopefully, one more victim can be found soon," he added.
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Translator: Adimas P, Kenzu T
Editor: Suharto
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