Indonesia Searches For Missing Plane With 10 On Board

Indonesian authorities are searching for a fisheries surveillance aircraft carrying at least 10 people after contact was lost on Saturday.

The plane, an ATR 42-500 operated by Indonesia Air Transport, was flying from Yogyakarta Province to Makassar, the capital of South Sulawesi, when air traffic control lost contact at about 1:30pm local time (0530 GMT).

Operations chief of the Makassar Search and Rescue Agency, Andi Sultan, told Reuters that the aircraft disappeared around the Maros region in South Sulawesi.

“Air traffic control lost contact with the ATR 42-500 aircraft at about 1:30pm,” Sultan said, adding that he could not comment on the possible cause of the incident.

Indonesia’s Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister, Sakti Wahyu Trenggono, confirmed that three employees of his ministry were on board the aircraft.

“Three employees from my ministry were on board the plane,” Trenggono said at a news conference on Saturday.

Reports on the number of crew members remained unclear. Sultan said there were eight people on board, while AFP, quoting the airline, reported seven crew members.

A ministry official, Pung Nugroho Saksono, told state news agency Antara that the aircraft had been chartered by Indonesia’s Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries.

Search teams suspect the plane may have come down near the peak of Mount Bulusaraung. Sultan said about 400 personnel, including military and police units, have been deployed for the operation, although bad weather was hampering efforts.

Unconfirmed Flightradar24 data showed an aircraft matching the description flying at about 11,000 feet before rapidly losing altitude and disappearing from tracking systems.

Aircraft manufacturer ATR said it had been informed of “an accident” involving one of its planes and that its specialists were “fully engaged” in supporting Indonesian investigators and the operator.

Indonesia, a vast Southeast Asian archipelago, has recorded several fatal air crashes in recent years, raising concerns over aviation safety in the country.