Indonesian Passenger Plane Wrecked in Remote Papua

An Indonesian plane, which disappeared from radars after it flew from the provincial capital, Jayapura, to the town of Oksibil, on Sunday, has been found wrecked.

BBC world news reported that according to officials the wreckage of the plane, which went missing with 54 people on board, has been spotted in remote western Papua region.

As Indonesia's Transport Minister said, “local people in the Bintang highlands region found the aircraft. Indonesia's postal office has told the BBC that the plane was carrying four bags containing cash, about 6.5 billion rupiah ($486,000; £300,000), for villagers living in remote places in Papua.

"Our colleagues carry those bags to be handed out directly to poor people over there," said the head of Jayapura's post office, Haryono, who goes by only his first name.

The BBC says Trigana Air has had 14 serious incidents since it began operations in 1991, losing 10 aircraft in the process, according to the Aviation Safety Network.

Reportedly, it has been on a European Union blacklist of banned carriers since 2007. All but four of Indonesia's certified airlines are on the list. Indonesia has suffered two major air disasters in the past year. Last December an Air Asia plane crashed in the Java Sea, killing all 192 people on board - and in July a military transport plane crashed in a residential area of Medan, Sumatra claiming 140 lives.