JAKARTA - A cargo plane carrying four people was reported missing in a remote, mountainous area of Indonesia's easternmost Papua province, an official said Monday.
The Turbo Caribou PK-SWW left the town of Timika at 10.57pm Sunday for the remote district of Ilaga, but had not shown up after its last contact less than an hour after it took off, said Indonesia's Search and Rescue Agency chief, Henry Bambang Soelistyo. The plane was scheduled to land at 3.22am Monday.
Mr Soelistyo said a rescue team was sent to search for the plane, which was carrying two pilots and two passengers with cargo, including construction materials. He said fog, bad weather and dense jungle terrain were hampering search efforts.
Air flight is the main source of transportation in Papua, the second biggest of Indonesia's more than 17,000 islands. Much of Papua is covered with impenetrable jungles and mountains. In the past, some planes that have crashed there have never been found.