"When it happened the weather was bad and rain was falling," the ministry`s head of public communications, Bambang S Ervan, said when asked about the incident.
He said however that investigation was still being carried with regard to find the exact cause of the crash in Papua that killed 27 people.
"Confirmation with regard to its real cause could not as yet be made pending the results of investigation by the National Committee of Transportation Safety," he said.
The plane was flying the Nabire-Kaimana route when the incident happened.
"It happened when the plane was about to land in Runway 19 at a position 500 meters away the end of the runway. It happened at around 2pm local time," he said.
Bambang said evacuation was still being made and it was believed all of its passengers and crew had died.
"The plane carried 18 adult passengers, one child and two five-year olds on board and six crew namely pilot Purwandi Wahyu, co-pilot Paul Nap, two stewardesses Sumaryani and Indriyana Puspasari and two technicians Joko and Dadi Tarsidik," he said. (*)
(H-YH/HAJM/B003)
Editor: Ruslan Burhani
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
