REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, AMBON -- The four dead victims in the plane crash in Tual on Sunday have been identified.
"They are all persons on board consisting of Capt. Widhi Kurniawan, the pilot, Epi, an engineer, Arif from DSKU company and his staff Jefry," head of the Dumatubun airport, Amran Hamid, said here on Sunday.
He said he was still waiting for further information regarding data about the victims and the company they were working for, adding he received the initial data about the victims from the Sentani airport authorities in Papua where the plane came from.
The victims are now being laid to rest at the local general hospital in Tual.
The Pilatus single engine aircraft with a registration number PK-IWT and a propeller on its muzzle crashed on Un coast in Tual in the Indonesian eastern province of Maluku at around 12.10pm local time.
Amran believed the incident happened due to bad weather as it was just raining very hard in the region when the crash occurred.
He said the exact cause of the incident however would be known only after a team from the National Transportation Safety Agency (KNKT) came and investigated.
The chief of the Air Force base in Dumatubun-Langgur, Lt. Col. Ketut Adhiasa, said the chartered plane belonging to PT Intan Angkasa left Sentani airport in Papua and would be on a transit at Dumatubun-Langgur airport on its way to Baubau.
He admitted that the weather had been very bad in the past few days in the region marked by strong winds and heavy rains.
Before crashing the pilot contacted the airport to ask for a permit to land. The aircraft moved around before finally crashed and was engulfed in flame.
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