Wreckage of missing Indonesian plane spotted by search team

A map showing where the wreckage was found.
(Image credit: Twitter.com/rapplerdotcom)

The wreckage of an airplane that went missing Sunday in Indonesia was spotted by a search plane seven miles from its destination in the province of Papua, officials say.

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The Trigana Air Service flight carried 54 people, including five crew members and five children. It took off from Papua's provincial capital of Jayapura and was headed for the city of Oksibil, a flight that was expected to take 42 minutes. Oksibil was experiencing heavy rain and winds and fog when the airplane lost contact with the airport, The Associated Press reports, and Transportation Ministry spokesman Julius Barata said there was no indication the pilot made a distress call. Officials did not say if there were any survivors.

The area is dangerous to fly in due to the mountains and weather that changes rapidly, aviation analyst Dudi Sudibyo told AP: "I can say that a pilot who is capable of flying there will be able to fly an aircraft in any part of the world."

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Catherine Garcia

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.