13 killed in Indonesian military plane crash

An Indonesian military transport plane crashed near Papua, killing all 134 on board. The plane was carrying 3 pilots and 10 other personnel.

Jakarta, Dec 18: An Indonesian military Hercules C-130 transport plane on Sunday crashed in the easternmost province of Papua, killing all 13 people on board.

Air force chief of staff Agus Supriatna told MetroTV the plane was carrying food supplies from Timika to Wamena when it crashed. He says bad weather was suspected to be the cause of the crash. The plane was carrying three pilots and 10 other personnel.

TV footage showed rescuers had reached the wreckage of the plane. Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago nation, has been plagued by transportation accidents in recent years. The military, which suffers from low funding, has also regularly suffered airplane and helicopter crashes.

The plane had lost contact with the ground aviation control at about 6am local time (11pm GMT).

Indonesia, a sprawling archipelago of more than 250 million people, has been plagued by transportation accidents in recent years, from plane and train crashes to ferry sinkings.

PTI