Indonesia Trigana Air crash: Debris spotted in mountains

Jakarta, Indonesia (CNN)Searchers are struggling with rugged, densely forested terrain and difficult weather as they try to reach debris that's believed to be from an Indonesian airliner that crashed with 54 people on board.

Two search planes on Monday spotted wreckage in a remote, mountainous area of Papua province in eastern Indonesia, said Bambang Soelistyo, the head of Indonesia's search and rescue agency.

Officials deployed two ground teams to head for the site, but police said later that thick fog had forced the suspension of those efforts.

The teams are currently in the mountains waiting for better conditions and may have to spend the night there, said Tatang, a senior Papua police official who goes by one name.

Search officials are also borrowing a helicopter with specialized landing gear from a mining company to attempt a landing near the debris location, authorities said. It wasn't immediately clear whether that aspect of the search would continue in the bad weather.

Villagers have reported seeing the passenger plane, which lost contact with air traffic control Sunday, crash into a mountain, according to Indonesian aviation authorities.

The loss of the ATR42-300 turboprop aircraft is the Southeast Asian nation's third air disaster in less than eight months. The flight was operated by Trigana Air, a carrier with a troubled safety track record that's banned from operating in Europe.

The plane was carrying 44 adult passengers, five children and five crew members when it went missing just over half an hour into a short domestic flight between Jayapura, the provincial capital of Papua, and Oksibil, an inland town near the border with Papua New Guinea.

All of those on board were Indonesian, authorities told CNN Indonesia.

There was no indication that a distress call was made from the plane, Indonesian Transportation Ministry spokesman J.A. Barata told CNN Indonesia.

He said Sunday that he would be flying from Jakarta, the Indonesian capital, to Papua along with investigators and search and rescue officials.