A Trigana Air ATR-42 aircraft carrying 48 people skidded off the runway in Indonesia’s remote eastern region of Papua on Monday morning, resulting in injuries to several passengers. The plane was en route from the Yapen Islands regency to the Papuan capital of Jayapura when the incident occurred.
According to local police chief Ardyan Ukie Hercahyo, all 42 passengers, including a baby, and six crew members survived the accident. They have been taken to a hospital for health checkups. “Praise God everybody survived and has been taken to a hospital for a health checkup,” Hercahyo said in a statement.
The incident highlights ongoing concerns about aviation safety in Indonesia, particularly in Papua, where mountainous terrain and frequent poor weather conditions pose significant challenges to air travel.
The local search and rescue agency reported that while some passengers sustained injuries and were traumatized by the incident, no fatalities have been reported. Authorities are investigating the cause of the accident and are working with relevant parties to prevent future occurrences.
This incident underscores the risks associated with air travel in Indonesia, where the archipelago’s thousands of islands make aviation a crucial but hazardous mode of transportation.
In 2015, a Trigana Air plane crash in Papua resulted in the deaths of all 54 people on board, further emphasizing the region’s aviation safety challenges.
