Wreckage recovered after US national dies in plane crash in Indonesia

Wreckage recovered after US national dies in plane crash in Indonesia

Locals recover the wreckage from a plane crash in which an American pilot was killed.

Locals recover the wreckage from a plane crash in which an American pilot was killed.

Joyce Lin, 40, was the only person onboard the utilities aircraft carrying food supplies when it nosedived shortly after takeoff and crashed into a lake in Indonesia's eastern Papua province.

Papua police spokesperson Ahmad Musthofa Kamal said the plane was carrying food supplies from Jayapura to the Tolikara district on the New Guinea island when the pilot made distress calls two minutes after takeoff.

Officials said he body of the US national was recovered from the aircraft, 13 metres below the lake's surface.

The small Kodiak 100 aircraft was being operated by the Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), which runs a humanitarian aid program in the region.

Kamal said the plane took off from Sentani Airport in Papua at 6.27 a.m.

Local time (2127GMT) but two minutes later, the pilot asked air traffic control for an emergency landing and lost contact while flying above Lake Sentani, according to the official.

''A joint team is carrying out an investigation to ascertain the cause of the crash,'' Kamal added.