All 27 passengers and crew onboard a MERPATI NUSANTARA Xian MA60 were killed today when the aircraft plunged into the sea, while on approach to Kaimana, Indonesia. Flight 8968 was on Domestic Service from Sorong to Kaimana, Indonesia, with 21 passengers, 4 crew members and 2 technicians onboard. The crew last reported to Kaimana around 1:45pm today, when it was about 15 miles from touchdown. The Xian, registration PK-MZK and pictured above, was reportedly in a holding pattern due to rain and thick fog and low visiblity, before being cleared for approach. Around 2:00pm, Flight 8969 was on final approach to the runway 19, when, according to eyewitnesses, it suddenly turned left and plunged into the sea, about 1640 feet before the runway threshold. Upon impact, the aircraft broke into 2 parts and sank to the seabed floor, about 30 meters below the waters surface. At least 15 bodies were recovered on the waters surface in the immediate hours after the crash. Rescue teams are in the process of recovering the remaining victims, who are reportedly trapped inside the wreckage. West Papua's Kaimana Airport allows only NDB and visual approaches on its runway, pictured above, of 5250 feet. The Indonesian government has opened an investigation into the crash.
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