jg bodies 1569414252

Members of the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) carry the bodies of the crew of the missing aircraft at Mozes Kilangin Airport in Timika, Papua, on Wednesday. (Antara Photo/Sevianto Pakiding)
BY :TELLY NATHALIA

SEPTEMBER 25, 2019

Jakarta. Searchers finally managed to reach the bodies of the crew of an aircraft that went missing in Papua a week ago, a police spokesman said on Wednesday.

Air traffic controllers lost contact with the twin-engine DHC-6 Twin Otter Series 400 aircraft while it was underway from Timika in Mimika district to Illaga in Puncak district on Sept. 18, with 1.7 metric tons of rice on board.

Members of the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas), assisted by police, the military and civilians, located the crash site a few days ago, but only managed to reach it by Wednesday morning, due to the difficult terrain and poor weather conditions.

The wreckage of the aircraft, which was operated by Rimbun Air, was located on a 90-degree slope.

"Four bodies were evacuated to Timika General Hospital for autopsies by the police's disaster victim identification unit," Papua Police spokesman Senior Comr. Ahmad Musthofa Kamal said.

The victims have been identified as Dasep Sobirin, the pilot, Yudha Tutuco, the co-pilot, Ujang, the flight engineer, and Hadi Utomo, a passenger.

"The Basarnas team, in coordination with Vertical Rescue Indonesia, have evacuated the bodies and parts of the aircraft, including its flight data recorders," Ahmad said.