An Indonesian plane carrying 27 passengers and crew crashed off the eastern province of West Papua Saturday, killing all aboard, officials and media reports said. The aircraft belonging to the state-run Merpati Airlines crashed into the sea near West Papua's Kaimana airport, Transport Ministry spokesman Bambang Ervan said.
Airline chief Jhony Sardjono told the state-run Antara news agency that the plane was carrying 18 adult passengers, two children and a baby and a crew of six. He said the plane was en route from Sorong city to Kaimana airport. Other officials and news reports spoke of the number of passengers ranging from 25 to 28. Kaimana airport official Jaka Karim said the aircraft lost balance due to bad weather and fell into the sea about 500 metres from shore, reported Vivanews.com online news portal, adding the plane was seen circling above the airport before it went down.
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