Rescuers on Sunday found wreckage and one body on a steep slope of Mount Bulusaraung, where a small Indonesian Air Transport turboprop had crashed with 10 people aboard.
The plane lost contact with air traffic control on Saturday afternoon. It was flying from Yogyakarta to Makassar, on Sulawesi island. The crash site is inside Bantimurung-Bulusaraung National Park, which borders Makassar.
Muhammad Arif Anwar, head of the Makassar search and rescue agency, told a press briefing that searchers had found what appeared to be “the fuselage, the tail section, and the windows.” The body, a man, lay about 200 meters down in a ravine, close to the debris. A second rescue official, Andi Sultan, confirmed the recovery and said the remains would be brought out on Monday because of poor weather. A unit was also sent in by air to look for the others.
Three employees of the ministry of marine affairs and fisheries were aboard, with seven crew. Minister Sakti Wahyu Trenggono said they were on a mission to monitor resources from the air.
More than 1,000 people joined the search by land and air, among them air force personnel, police and volunteers. Local military chief Bangun Nawoko said harsh terrain and fog slowed them.
Indonesia leans heavily on air transport to link its thousands of islands, and its aviation safety record is poor. In September, a helicopter carrying six passengers and two crew crashed soon after takeoff in South Kalimantan, killing all eight. Less than two weeks later, four people died when a helicopter went down in Ilaga, in Papua.
