In a tweet posted on Sunday, Bandan SAR Nasional or National Agency Search and Rescue said that the Trigana Air flight had 54 passengers on board.
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BASARNAS chief Bambang Soelystyo is reported to have told the Reuters news agency “lost contact with plane”.
He says the ATR42-300 twin turboprop plane was carrying 49 passengers and five crew members.
The plane lost contact just before 1600 AEST after taking off from Sentani airport in Papua’s capital Jayapura at 2:55pm local time.
An Indonesian flight carrying 54 passengers and crews has gone missing over Papua.
“We are not sure what happened to the plane yet and we are coordinating with local authorities”, he said.
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Air transport is used in Papua as land travel is often impossible. ATR is a joint venture between Airbus and Alenia Aermacchi, a subsidiary of Italian aerospace firm Finmeccanica. Airlines on the list are barred from operating in European airspace due to either concerns about its safety standards, or concerns about the regulatory environment in its country of registration.
