12 Feared Dead Aboard Chartered Flight

Indonesian authorities say they've found the wreckage of a DHC6 Twin Otter (file photo below) in a remote region of Papua.

A police spokesman told ABC the aircraft went missing Friday morning. Search and rescue teams were called in after the plane was reported overdue. The wreckage was spotted by air on Saturday on the slope of a mountain.

The spokesman said "It seems it struck a mountain because of smog or (bad) weather."

Weather at the departure airport was reported to be good, but search and rescue aircraft say weather on the route was so bad search efforts were almost called off.

The aircraft was operated by PT Trigana Air Service. It departed Puncak Jaya regency's capital city of Mulia approximately 8:30 Friday morning and was to fly 30 minutes to nearby Ilaga.

Bad weather conditions continue to hamper evacuation efforts, and authorities say considering the conditions and the area of the crash it is "probably impossible" any of the 12 survived.

A local paper reports regency government administrators chartered the flight to transport officials to several surrounding districts to discuss a development plan.

FMI: www.kjrisfo.net