All 10 Bodies Recovered After Indonesia Air Transport ATR 42-500 Disappears Over South Sulawesi

Search-and-rescue teams in Indonesia have recovered the bodies of all 10 people who were aboard an Indonesia Air Transport ATR 42-500 turboprop that vanished from radar during a Jan. 17 flight between Yogyakarta and Makassar.

Basarnas, Indonesia’s national search-and-rescue agency, confirmed that the final two victims were located on Jan. 23 near Mount Bulusaraung in the Maros region of South Sulawesi. Andi Sultan, a representative of South Sulawesi's rescue office, posted video updates saying recovery and evacuation work were ongoing as teams secured the site.

Basarnas / Handout/Anadolu via GettyIndonesia search-and-rescue teams carrying a body of a victim of the Jan. 17 plane crash

Initial reports conflicted over the number of occupants. Antara, the state news agency, first reported eight crew and three passengers, but later reporting from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Reuters corrected the manifest to seven crew members and three passengers — the passengers were ministry staff.

Timeline And Search Effort

The turboprop disappeared from radar on Jan. 17 during what was intended to be a roughly two-hour flight from Yogyakarta to Makassar. Basarnas operations director Edy Prakoso told Antara the aircraft’s last confirmed contact with air traffic control was at 1:17 p.m. local time. Prakoso said search teams believed the plane went down over the Maros region and deployed 25 search-and-rescue personnel divided into three groups to scour the terrain.

Basarnas / Handout/Anadolu via GettyIndonesia search and rescue teams carrying a body of a victim of the Jan. 17 plane crash

Wreckage And Recoveries

Investigators and rescuers later found debris and aircraft sections scattered around Mount Bulusaraung. Recovery teams reported finding fuselage fragments, passenger seats and what is believed to be one of the aircraft’s engines. Two bodies were recovered in the days immediately following the crash: an unidentified man located about 200 meters down the slope of Mount Bulusaraung on Jan. 18, and a woman found on Jan. 19, Basarnas officials said.

Mohammad Syafii, head of Basarnas, told reporters that ‘one more victim has been found’ when the second victim was located on Jan. 19.

International outlets including Reuters, the Associated Press, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and AFP covered the search and recovery operations. PEOPLE magazine said it reached out to Indonesia Air Transport and Basarnas for comment.

Context: According to the ABC, the Jan. 17 crash is Indonesia’s first fatal accident involving an ATR 42 in more than a decade.