Trigana Air Cargo plane missing with four on board in remote Papua in Indonesia

A cargo plane carrying four people went missing Monday during a short flight in mountainous eastern Indonesia, authorities said, the latest blow to the country's beleaguered aviation sector.

The Turbo Caribou PK-SWW left the town of Timika at 10:57 pm on Sunday for the remote district of Ilaga, did not show 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 3:22 am on Monday.

Indonesia’s search and rescue agency chief Henry Bambang Soelistyo says the Turbo Caribou aircraft lost contact late Sunday on a flight from the town of Timika to the remote district of Ilaga. He says no signals have been detected from the plane’s emergency transmitters.

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.