Evacuation team spots Sukhoi debris

JAKARTA. The Search and Rescue team has located the debris of the downed Sukhoi Superjet 100 plan on a steep cliff near the Ciapus River.

The team is now trying to reach the river’s upper sections to get closer.

“We are at a height of 2,096 meters and are seeing the plane’s [debris],” a team member radioed to the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) Command Post I on Friday. The command post is located in Pasir Manggis, in the foothills of Mt. Salak.

“We are making our way there,” the member of Team Alpha said.

He requested helicopter support because of the difficult terrain.

Head of the Basarnas’s Jakarta branch, I Ketut Parwa, earlier said he would not deploy a helicopter to the scene because of unsuitable weather conditions.

He said a helicopter would be used only to return bodies from the foothills of the mountain to Halim Perdanakusuma Airport in East Jakarta, after rescue teams recovered the bodies from the scene on foot. (The Jakarta Post)