ATR Manufacturer Speaks Out about Aircraft Lost Contact in Maros

The discovery of the ATR plane debris in Maros. (doc. Dispenad)

JAKARTA - The manufacturer of the ATR aircraft in Toulouse, France, spoke out regarding the incident of loss of contact with the ATR 42-500 aircraft belonging to Indonesia Air Transport. The aircraft lost contact in Maros, South Sulawesi during the Yogyakarta flight to Makassar on Saturday.

"ATR has been informed that an accident has occurred in Indonesia involving an ATR 42-500. Our first thoughts go out to all those affected by the accident," management wrote, quoted from the official ATR website, Sunday, January 18.

Management also emphasized that ATR was ready to cooperate with Indonesian authorities to find out the cause of the aircraft's loss of contact.

"ATR specialists are fully involved to support the investigation led by Indonesian authorities and operators," he said.

For information, the ATR plane was known to be boarded by 11 people with the Yogyakarta route to Makassar City was reported missing contact on Saturday (17/1/2026) at 13.17 WITA at the coordinate point 04°55'48" LS - 119°44'52" BT in the Bantimurung-Bulusaraung National Park area, Maros-Pangkep Regency.

The personnel of the Joint SAR team were deployed to Mount Bulusaraung, the border area of Maros-Pangkejene Islands Regency (Pangkep), South Sulawesi, after confirming the discovery of the debris of the ATR 42-500 aircraft that had crashed in the local airspace.

"Here there are about 400-500 personnel ready to help in the evacuation process later, the rest are deployed to Bulusaraung," said Head of Operations and Standby Section of the Makassar Basarnas Office, Andi Sultan, as reported by ANTARA, Sunday, January 18.

The latest development, a joint SAR team has been sent to the location of the discovery of aircraft debris, including combing the area of the incident. In addition, the SAR team has mapped the evacuation route, given the condition of the terrain which is quite heavy.

According to him, the best option taken for the evacuation route after being considered is to take the climbing route to the location. Although there are other routes near the location, the terrain is quite difficult.

"Actually there is a path closer to the location, but the terrain is quite steep and risky. However, the team still uses the climbing route because the access is easy to reach," he said.