"The plane crashed as it was trying to make an emergency landing due to bad weather," Head of Public Communication Center of the Ministry of Transportation Bambang S Ervanm said here on Saturday.
He said the ill-fated airplane was flying the Sorong-Kaimana route, carrying 18 passengers, two children and one infant. It also flew with two pilots, two co-pilots and two technicians on board.
"The plane was trying to make an emergency landing as it was experiencing bad whether," Bambang said.
Now, the Search and Rescue (SAR) team was evacuating the victims. The National Commission for National Transportation Safety (KNKT) team will also depart soon to Papua to investigate the accident.
The MA-60 aircraft which was flying from Sorong to Kaimana, West Papua, crashed about 400 meters away from Kaimana airport.
The plane went down from an altitude of 15,000 feet and sank into the sea. Up to now, only 15 bodies had been found while the remaining one were still missing.
The 15 dead victims have been taken to the nearest hospital.(*)
(A014/HAJM/f001)
Editor: Ruslan Burhani
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