"Indonesian authorities are searching for a plane carrying three government workers and at least seven crew members after contact with the aircraft was lost, officials said. The fisheries surveillance aircraft had been heading to Makassar, the capital of South Sulawesi, after departing from Yogyakarta Province, before contact was lost, Andi Sultan, operations chief at the Makassar search and rescue agency, told the news agency Reuters."
"He said that air traffic control lost contact with the ATR 42-500 aircraft, operated by Indonesia Air Transport, at about 1:30pm (0530 GMT) on Saturday, around the Maros region in South Sulawesi province. He declined to comment on the possible cause of the incident. Maritime affairs and fisheries minister Sakti Wahyu Trenggono told a news conference on Saturday that three employees from his ministry were on board the plane, which was operated by Indonesia Air Transport."
"Sultan said the search and rescue agency suspected that the plane had come down near the peak of Mount Bulusaraung, with about 400 personnel, including military and police units, deployed to search for the plane and those on board, though the effort was being hampered by bad weather. According to unconfirmed Flightradar24 data, an aircraft matching the description was flying eastward over the Java Sea at about 11,000 feet (approximately 3,350 metres) before rapidly losing altitude and dropping off tracking systems."
The fisheries surveillance ATR 42-500 departed Yogyakarta Province en route to Makassar, South Sulawesi, before contact was lost. The aircraft had been chartered by the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries and was operated by Indonesia Air Transport. Three ministry employees were among those on board. Reports varied on crew numbers, citing seven or eight crew members. Air traffic control lost contact around 1:30pm (0530 GMT) near the Maros region. Search and rescue teams, including about 400 military and police personnel, suspected the plane came down near Mount Bulusaraung and conducted searches hampered by bad weather. Unconfirmed Flightradar24 data showed a rapid descent from about 11,000 feet.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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