JAKARTA: A plane reported to be carrying 27 passengers and crew crashed into the sea during a downpour Saturday in eastern Indonesia, killing everyone on board, a navy officer told local radio. “I can confirm that all the passengers were killed when the plane exploded as it crashed into the sea,” a navy officer involved in the search told ElShinta radio. “The aircraft was smashed to pieces... We found 15 bodies floating on the water and the other passengers are trapped inside the wreckage.” A transport ministry spokesman earlier said there were 27 people - 21 passengers and six crew - on board the Merpati Nusantara airlines MA-60 aircraft. The twin turbo-prop plane took off from Sorong city in West Papua province for Kaimana district about 400 kms to the south, he said. The navy official, Gunawan, said that about 10 navy divers had tried to find other passengers inside the wreckage. “We had difficulties locating them due to strong currents and limited equipment,” he said, adding that the accident took place about 400 meters from the coastline. Heavy rain was pouring down when the accident happened around midday, he said. Airline officials were unable to comment on the chronology of the accident or the exact number of passengers. “The weather was bad as there was heavy rainfall, which shortened the (pilot's) range of vision. It was also very dark. Thus, the airplane did not reach the runway,” the director general at the Ministry of Air Transportation, Herry Bakti, was quoted as saying. – Agence France
