"It is on the coordinate of 03.23.80 N and 09.01.21 E. The coordinate was found from emergency signals from the Casa plane caught by a Susi Air plane," the director general of air transportation, Herry Bhakti S Gumay, told newsmen.
He said according to the crew the plane was still relatively intact. "The plane is not broken into pieces. Its wings are also still intact," he said.
He said however no reports have been received with regard to the conditions of the passengers and crew.
The head of the public communication center of the ministry of transportation, Bambang S Erva, meanwhile said the plane was piloted by Capt Fama Ishak with Budiyono as co-pilot when it was reported missing.
The other crew members on the plane include technician Nico Matulessi and flight operation officer B Sutopo.
The plane carried 14 passengers including two children and two babies.
The director general could not tell what might have caused the plane to lost contact and crash in the location.
"Later the National Air Transportation Committee will investigate it," he said.
The plane took off from Medan`s Polonia airport in North Sumatra at 7.28am and was expected to arrive at Kutacane in Aceh at 8.03am.
PT Nusantara Buana Air the operator of the plane holds Air Operator Certificate (AOC) Number 135-041 for unscheduled flights since July 7, 2008.
"The Certificate is to expire on July 2012 while according to the last audit done from April 29 to May 2010 the company operates nine planes," Bambang said.
The 18-seat Casa plane was made in March 1989 and has recorded 11329,30 flight hours and 13626 take-offs/landings.
The chief of the Medan branch of Nusantara Buana Air, Zulkifli, said the plane might go down in the jungle around 30 kilometers from the closest river in the district of Langkat.
He said it was initially difficult for his team and the team from the local search and rescue agency to locate the plane but after flying around it "we finally found the location of the crash. It is around 30 kilometers from the closest river." (*)
Editor: Ruslan Burhani
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
