Rescue teams have reached the incident site and confirm there are no survivors. All 54 persons on board perished.
One of the 'black box' data recorders has been recovered and is being sent for laboratory processing and decoding. The hunt for the second black box continues.
The plane completely broke up on impact with the side of the mountain.
Officials confirm this is now a recovery operation. Deteriorating weather conditions continue to hamper the recovery process.
Helicopters unable to land at the mountain densely wooded crash site, will use lines and winches to recover bodies assisted by ground based responders, who have literally 'trekked' by foot to the crash area. The debris field is widespread comprising small fragments over the mountain side amid dense vegetation. Local weather conditions are not good but 'normal' for this remote region.
The Trigana Air Service ATR-42 [PK-YRH] Aircraft crashed with 54 people on board. No distress 'squawks' or Mayday messages were transmitted say Indonesian sources.

Julian Bray writes: The report below from www.aeroinside.com is comprehensive and factual. It ties in with my sources and adds some additional detail. It also has to be said, no 'on the ground' confirmation has yet been released and the report highlights some early misinformation, now corrected. No news of any survivors but this is still a rescue mission, not a recovery operation.
http://www.aeroinside.com/item/6178/trigana-at42-enroute-on-aug-16th-2015-aircraft-collided-with-terrain
A Trigana Air Avions de Transport Regional ATR-42-300, registration PK-YRN (in the last couple of years, this aircraft has been involved in zero other incidents. The same airline, Trigana, has been featured in totally 4 incidents or accidents) performing flight TGN-257 from Jayapura to Oksibil (Indonesia) with 49 passengers and 5 crew, was enroute estimated to arrive in Oksibil at 15:15L (06:15Z), however, did not contact or land in Oksibil. The aircraft was declared missing, a search for the aircraft was initiated. On Aug 17th 2015 the aircraft was found at an altitude of about 8,300 feet at the side of the Pegunungan Bintang Regency mountain at coordinates S4.8215 E140.4992.
Authorities reported the aircraft was anticipated to contact Oksibil at around 15:00L, Oksibil attempted to establish radio contact with the aircraft starting at 15:00L to no avail. Another Trigana ATR-42-300 PK-YRR, was dispatched to search for the missing aircraft, the aircraft departed Jayapura at 15:30L to look for the missing aircraft. PK-YRR returned to Jayapura 2 hours later without locating the missing aircraft, the crew reported the weather did not permit to fly through the area of Ambisibil, where a visual flight was not possible.
Papua Police reported they are responding to phone calls from residents in the village Bape, at the mountain ridge about 3.5nm southwest of Ambisibil and 15nm northwest of Oksibil, that they have seen an aircraft impacting terrain in the area, and dispatched rescue personnel into the area. The search was interrupted for the night and is to resume Monday (Aug 17th) morning.
AirNav Indonesia reported the weather in both Jayapura and Oksibil was reported good with good visibility.
Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency (SAR) reported they were informed the contact with the aircraft was lost at 14:55L (05:55Z), the aircraft did not land in Oksibil until 15:16L (06:16Z).
Indonesia's Ministry of Transport reported the flight number was TGN-257, not TGN-267 as reported earlier, the aircraft involved is PK-YRN. The Ministry advised that the names of the crew members published by the Ministry so far were in error, too. The search for the missing aircraft has been suspended for the night.
On Aug 17th 2015 Indonesia's Ministry of Transport reported that a helicopter located the debris of the missing aircraft on Aug 17th 2015 at 08:50L (23:50Z Aug 16th) at the side of the Pegunungan Bintang Regency at coordinates S4.8215 E140.4992 at an altitude of about 8300 feet, about 8.5nm from the airport.
Due to weather the helicopter operations had to be suspended subsequently, however. A total of 266 rescue personnel are on their way on the ground to the crash site. Only Indonesian nationals, no foreigners were on board of the aircraft.
On Aug 17th 2015 Papua's Police reported the wreckage has been located about 12 to 15km (6.5 to 8.1nm) from Oksibil Airport.
Indonesia's Ministry of Transport states, Oksibil Airport is located at coordinates S4.907222 E140.628333, 4000 feet elevation, and features a runway 11/29 of about 3900 feet/1200 meters length. The unattended aerodrome is capable of receiving Dash 7 and ATR-42 aircraft.
Other Trigana Aviation Incidents
Courtesy WWW.Aeroinside.com
http://www.aeroinside.com/item/6178/trigana-at42-enroute-on-aug-16th-2015-aircraft-collided-with-terrain
http://www.aeroinside.com/item/5187/trigana-dhc6-at-enarotali-on-jan-11th-2015-runway-excursion
http://www.aeroinside.com/item/4236/trigana-dhc6-at-apalapsili-on-feb-5th-2013-runway-excursion-on-landing
http://www.aeroinside.com/item/2534/trigana-b733-at-wamena-on-may-20th-2013-overran-runway-on-landing
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Helicopters join search mission for crashed ATR-42 :Library Pic |
Julian Bray writes:
Although helicopters (i.e. more than one) were originally scheduled to carry out search operations - which resumed at 6am local (10pm Sunday UK) - deteriorating mountain weather conditions requires fixed wing aircraft to be used as spotters instead.
Indonesia's national search and rescue agency chief, Bambang Soelistyo, said suspected debris and billowing smoke spotted at 8,500 feet above sea level, about 31 miles (50km) from Oksibil Airport. Some 50 search and rescue workers, soldiers, and police are making their way from Oksibil to the site.
A new development, a mining organisation has offered its own helicopter, equipped for precision instrument flying operations, in adverse weather conditions.
Indonesian Air Force sources say a second search aircraft is now flying to the reported mountainous crash site, a possible debris field. The objective? To verify the initial debris findings; officials are "95% certain"
The Trigana Air Service ATR-42 scheduled flight was en route from Jayapura to Oksibil when it lost contact. The initial search suspended due to bad weather and nightfall. an official confirmed to local news media.
Trigana Air Service (flight number TGN 267), used an ATR 42-300 turboprop, which first entered service in May 1988, making it some 27 years old. Not a problem if regularly serviced, time expired parts swapped out and all actions, modifications, properly documented in up-to-date service and safety records....
Search operations (note "Search" not "Recovery") are due to resume at 10pm UK time (6am Papua), using several helicopters and also with fixed wing aircraft as area spotters in this unfriendly mountain environment. Crash investigators from several countries are also expected to join the search teams. Weather conditions for the search are not improving either.
Specifically the solidly built ATR-42 has two smaller turbofans anchored above and away from the fuselage, and could possibly in some crash scenarios, break off sharply reducing the incidence of fire.
Tellingly none of the outline reports so far talk of a 'fire' or a 'fire ball', which would be the immediate outcome with larger aircraft.
Although Trigana Air Service who operated the crashed ATR-42 and listed as a banned carrier over European Community Territory and specifically listed in the EU 'Banned List' known as Annex A; they could however be permitted to exercise traffic rights simply by using wet-leased aircraft of an air carrier which is not subject to an operating ban, provided that the relevant safety standards are complied with.
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"Papua Villagers have seen a plane crash into a mountain range at 'CAMP 3' which is around 5,000 ft above sea level and then found the missing plane" these were initially unconfirmed reports from local residents passed onto officials.
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Screen Grab Courtesy CNN |
Some 60 residents have reportedly reached the crash site, and the locus is now formally confirmed locally by officials. Weather conditions at the time of the incident was for the region nothing unusual i.e. gusting upward windshear, winds, rain, some thunderstorms and horizontal wind gusts. The search teams however will encounter deteriorating weather conditions and certainly increased upward windshear gusts bouncing of the slopes of the mountain range.
The ATR-42 Papa-Kilo [PK-YRH] carries Black Boxes Cockpit Voice and Flight Data recorders, supplied by Honeywell. Finding survivors has not been ruled out, so it is still a search mission, rather than a recovery operation.
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The Trigana Air Service ATR-42 [PK-YRH] Aircraft has crashed with 54 people on board. No distress 'squawks' or Mayday messages were transmitted say Indonesian sources.
Resources and technology are shared. Number "42" derives from the aircraft's dynamic seating plan, which varies from 40 to 52.
Indonesian Search and rescue organisations, as darkness falls, have suspended the hunt for an ATR-42 aircraft declared missing over Papua with 54 people on board, as I commented live on CNN earlier today pointing out that already investigators will be checking passenger lists and cargo manifests for any possible clues. A 'multiple helicopter' search will resume at 6am local time, 10pm Sunday (UK) , in terrain that is difficult if not impossible to survey.
The Trigana Air Service flight IL267 was scheduled to arrive in Oksibil from Sentani, contact was lost after thirty 33 minutes into the 50 minute flight. Trigana like many other airlines in the region has a questionable safety record and has 'denied operations' status inside the European Union.
The ATR-42 aircraft, with 44 adults, five children and five crew on board, was due to arrive at 3.16pm local time (7.16am UK time).
An AirAsia plane crashed on its way from Surabaya in Indonesia to Singapore last December, killing all 162 people on board as a result caused the Indonesian government to impose regulations to improve safety.
JULIAN BRAY +44(0)1733 345581, Journalist, Broadcaster, Aviation Security & Operations Expert, Travel / Maritime & Cruise Industry, EQUITY, NUJ, Broadcast COOBE ISDN ++44 (0)1733 345020 (DUAL CODEC) SKYPE: JULIAN.BRAY.UK e&oe Cell: 07944 217476 or iPhone 0743 530 3145 www.aviationcomment.com # # # VENDOR 10476453 http://feeds.feedburner.com/BraysDuckhouseBlog
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