A SAM Air Cessna Caravan, tail number PK-SMW, lost contact with controllers earlier today while on an intra-Papau flight. Communications were lost shortly after takeoff from Elelim Airport because the airplane headed to Poik Airport. The aircraft was reported to be carrying 4 paying passengers and two crew members on the time.
Hours later, footage emerged of an airplane wreck discovered within the vicinity of the missing flight. Black smoke plumed from the crash site, and the aircraft is barely recognizable, with only its empennage seemingly still intact.
Details on what happened are sparse, and the condition of the passengers and crew is unknown. Talking to press, the top of the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas), Air Marshall Henri Alfiandi, said that poor weather conditions had prevented any closer investigation at this point. He said,
“The victim’s condition will not be yet known since the helicopter has not managed to approach the position as a result of weather aspects. The evacuation plan might be carried out tomorrow morning, June 24, 2023.”
Basarnas plans to send a team of 10 – 15 people to the location to evacuate all passengers.
Papau is considered one of 22 islands within the Aitutaki atoll of the Cook Islands.
Survivors unlikely
The Cessna was around 12km (16 NM) to the southeast of Elelim Airport when it met its fate. Although rescue parties are unable to get to the crash site at present, largely as a result of foggy conditions, the likelihood of survivors stays slim.
SAM Air Safety Manager Bambang Gunawan told detik.com that, although the airline is praying for a miracle, at present, they don’t expect survivors. He commented,
“If you happen to have a look at the conditions, evidently nobody has survived, but hopefully there might be a miracle since the helicopter that found it earlier couldn’t find any survivors.”
About SAM Air
Semuwa Aviasi Mandiri (SAM) Air was founded in 2019 and undertakes passenger charter services with a small fleet which incorporates the Cessna Caravan and a De Havilland Canada Twin Otter.
Just days ago, its other aircraft, the DHC-6 Twin Otter, suffered a runway tour at Pattimura Ambon Airport in Indonesia. The aircraft was doing a 180-degree turn after landing when the left tire failed, and the aircraft ran onto soft ground.
Back in January, the identical aircraft had one other runway tour, this time at Beoga in Papau. It suffered damages to the appropriate wing, and needed help from the locals to get it out of its sticky predicament.
Today’s accident is tragic, and is further demonstration that, although traveling by air is safer than it ever has been today, operating in these distant environments still comes with some significant challenges. Our thoughts are with the families and other people affected.