Indonesian Flight With Fifty Four People On Board Goes Missing: Search Efforts Underway

We’re just getting towards the end of the MH370 saga and another one has already struck.

Indonesian flight TGN267 with fifty four people on board is reported missing after it lost contact with air traffic control a mere half hour after take-off.

The Trigana Air ATR 42 turboprop lost contact over the Papua region, whilst on a flight from Sentani airport in the regional capital Jayapura, to the town of Oksibil in the south of the region.

A vigorous search was carried out for the plane, but had to be called off due to approaching darkness and bad weather.

The search would resume at 0600 local time on Monday (2100 GMT Sunday)

Transport ministry spokesman Julius Barata confirmed the disappearance.

“We are not sure what happened to the plane yet and we are co-ordinating with local authorities,” he told AFP news agency.

“The weather is currently very bad there, it is very dark and cloudy. It is not conducive for a search. The area is mountainous.”

Officials suspect the plane might have crashed due to the extremely bad weather.

The aircraft was carrying 44 adult passengers, five children and infants, and five crew members.