Indonesian police confirm small passenger plane missing
Aviastar airline flight loses contact with 10 people on board shortly after takeoff in eastern South Sulawesi province
A private passenger plane with 10 people on board lost contact Friday in eastern Indonesia, South Sulawesi province regional police spokesperson Barung Mangera told Anadolu Agency.
The Aviastar airline flight had departed from Andi Djema Airport in Masamba town at around 14:25 pm (07:25 GMT) en route to Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport in the provincial capital of Makassar.
"According to the schedule, the plane was supposed to arrive at 15:35 p.m. But it has not arrived as of 18:05 p.m. [11:05 GMT],” Mangera said. “The last contact was 11 minutes after [take off from] Masamba, possibly in the surrounding area of Palopo [city]."
He added that according to the flight’s manifest, the plane had been carrying seven passengers -- including a child and two babies – and three crewmembers.
Indonesian aviation -- both civilian and military -- has suffered a number of blows to its record. It has resulted in the European Union -- which had barred flights by Indonesian airlines between 2007 and 2009 -- reissuing the ban last June.
In mid-August, a passenger plane crashed into the mountains of eastern Papua, killing all 54 people on board.
In late June, an air force plane crashed in a residential area of North Sumatra province’s capital, killing more than 140 people who were aboard the flight and on the ground.
On Dec. 28, a flight of AirAsia’s Indonesia subsidiary crashed in the Java Sea with 162 people on board.
