Indonesia locates wreckage of missing ATR 42-500; body of one occupant recovered

Dhaka: Indonesian authorities have located the wreckage of an ATR 42-500, which had gone missing in South Sulawesi province on Saturday, and recovered the body of one of the ten people onboard, said a media report on Sunday, January 18.

Local rescuers found the wreckage at different places around Mount Bulusaraung in the Maros region. Mount Bulusaraung sits roughly 1,500 kilometers northeast of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta.

Helicopter crews first spotted the debris of the missing plane's window at 7:46 local time (LT). Then, at around 7:49 LT, large parts of the aircraft, believed to be the fuselage, were discovered. Rescuers also located other wreckage, including the engines and passenger seats. The tail was found lying at the bottom of the mountain slope.

Later, in the afternoon, one of the passenger's bodies was discovered in a valley around 200 meters from Mount Bulusaraung's peak. The status of the other nine people onboard is still unknown.

Muhammad Arif Anwar, the head of South Sulawesi's rescue agency, said after locating the wreckage, they prioritized finding the passengers and would deploy 1,200 personnel for the search mission.

Earlier, on Saturday, January 17, an Indonesia Air Transport ATR 42-500 aircraft, registered PK-THT, went missing after losing contact with air traffic control at 13:30 LT around the Maros region in South Sulawesi. The aircraft was en route to Makassar, the capital of South Sulawesi, from Yogyakarta.

The Marine Affairs and Fisheries Ministry of Indonesia had chartered the ATR for conducting air surveillance on fisheries. There were seven crew members and three ministry staff onboard.

Following its initial observations, the National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) of Indonesia said the aircraft had crashed into the mountain's slope, describing the accident as a "controlled flight into terrain" incident. Currently, the agency is investigating the incident, and the actual cause is yet to be revealed.