18 Lost in CASA 212 Crash  

An Indonesian military CASA C-212 twin-engine turboprop went down in dense jungle on the side of a mountain in Indonesia on June 26. Officials said the aircraft had departed Halim Perdanakusuma Air Base in Jakarta on a mission to test a digital mapping camera system. According to AFP, wreckage was spotted Friday on Salak Mountain, a rugged, steep slope 25 miles south of the capital city of Jakarta in the town of Bogor. Rescuers recovered the bodies of all 18 persons aboard the aircraft. Police said local residents witnessed the aircraft going down into the dense pocket of jungle on the mountain's slopes. "People living around the Mount Salak area saw a plane flying on Thursday and then they heard sounds of an explosion," one police officer in the region said. Among the passengers were six civilians including three foreigners from Singapore, India, and England who were employed by the Singapore-based company Credent Technology, specializing in high-resolution satellite imagery and laser scanning for mapping.