A missing Trigana Air plane carrying 54 people has been found crashed in a remote area of Indonesia's Papua province.
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An Indonesian transport official has confirmed a missing Trigana Air aircraft has crashed in the Oktabe district of Papua province.
It had been carrying 54 people across the remote, heavily-forested region when contact was lost with air traffic control.
On board were 44 adults, five crew members and five children.
There was no immediate word on whether anyone survived.
Mountainous route
The Indonesian aircraft was flying between Jayapura and Oksibil, the capital of the eastern Papua province.
Air travel is commonly used across the mountainous route as land travel is often impossible.
Villagers in the area are said to have alerted the authorities when they saw a plane crash into Tangok mountain.
‘14 serious incidents’
In operation since 1991, Trigana Air had had 14 serious incidents prior to Sunday’s crash (August 16), the Aviation Safety Network reports.
To date, ten of its aircraft have been written off.
Trigana has been blacklisted by the European Union since 2007. The EU can ban carriers from operating in European airspace if it has concerns about safety standards or about the regulatory environment in the airline’s country of origin.