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Twin Otter Flight MZ 9760 D Missing, 16 Onboard: Papua, Indonesia
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by cyn.khoo | August 3, 2009 at 04:20 pm
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Twin Otter Flight MZ 9760 D of Merpati Airways disappeared over Papua, Indonesia, Sunday, August 2. The plane carried 16 passengers, including the pilot, three crew members, and two babies.
The plane's disappearance was confirmed by PT Merpati operational director, Captain Nikmatullah.
"After taking off the aircraft didn't make any contact with the monitoring tower," he told Antara.
"We immediately sent another Twin Otter plane to search for the missing aircraft along several flight lanes on the Jayapura-Oksibil route," he said.
Nikmatullah said the Twin Otter plane was on a routine, twice-daily flight.
Pilot Qadrianova flew the aircraft with co-pilot Pramudya, aided by the technician Supriadi. However, reports are conflicting and have also stated that the pilot was Frans Noble, flying with co-pilot Dedi Sudrahat, a mechanic.
The plane lost contact with the tower after leaving Sentani airport in Jayapura at 10:15am (Eastern Indonesia Standard Time, WIT). The flight was supposed to be no more than 55 minutes long, but never arrived in Oksibil.
Flight MZ 9760 D lost contact with the tower 13 minutes after take-off, but not before making contact with an Indonesian Air Force Cassa aircraft that was flying from Oksibil to Sentani. The plane had undergone a routine check before the flight, and was deemed fit to fly.
While bad weather has hindered searches for the Twin Otter to date, Colonel Suwandi, commander of the airport at Jayapura, stated five planes are planned to be flown in a full search.
"We plan to fly five small planes to search for the missing plane, but due to the unfavorable weather condition, only one plane which has been mobilised," he said.
The passenger list is reported to include the names: Lauren, Yustinus, Simio, Yohanes, Basilius, Edy, Yanes, Yacob, Supiadi, Marthina, Nelvina, and babies Nutulo and Oliver. Family members and relatives have gathered at airports to await news.
Among the identified passengers on board were Lauren, Yustinus, Simio, Yohanes, Basilius, Edy, Yanes, Yacob, Supiadi, Marthina, Nelvina, and two babies: Nutulo and Oliver.
Local resident Martha, a family member of two passengers on board the plane, said Marthina's husband called her at around 11 a.m. asking if his wife and his child had arrived in Oksibil.
"Officials at the Oksibil airport then looked for information from airstrips in Pegunungan Bintang to find out if any planes had made an emergency landing there. But no one had seen the plane," she said.
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at 21:28 on August 3rd, 2009
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