A passenger aircraft with 102 people on board -- including 11 children -- went missing in Indonesia last night after sending out distress signals, the transport minister said.
The Boeing 737 was flying between the cities of Surabaya and Manado.
Transport Minister Hatta Radjasa said the Adam Air plane was believed to be near Mamuju in South Sulawesi province, 750km southwest of its intended destination in the northeast of Sulawesi island.
Distress calls
"The plane with 96 people [and six crew] has lost contact and at this point its position is at Mamuju, based on the distress calls we've received," he told ElShinta radio.
"We have already instructed the search and rescue teams to send aid immediately to those injured in the incident," he said.
"We have no information on the condition of the plane or passengers. We have asked all aircraft crossing the area to relay any information they get," the minister said.
"We do not know the reason [for the plane going missing] so don't speculate. At this point we need to offer help to the 96 people as soon as possible," he said.
The Surabaya airport duty manager said there were no technical problems with the plane when it took off.
The plane had fuel to last four hours and was carrying 85 adults, 11 children, including four babies, and six crew, ElShinta said.
The area north of east Java is subject to violent storms and has experienced high winds since last weekend.
Privately owned Adam Air began operations in 2003 and serves mostly domestic routes, with Singapore and Malaysia's Penang its only international destinations.
The company is a leading low-cost carrier in the competitive Indonesian market, marketing itself as a "boutique airline" between traditional budget firms and regular airlines.
Company president director Adam Suherman said in November Adam Air planned to beef up its fleet by an additional 10 planes next year to handle a projected rise in passenger numbers.
According to Adam Air's Web site, the carrier had 19 Boeing 737 jets in its fleet as of January last year.
The airline expects to handle 11 million passengers this year, up from an estimated seven million last year.
Suherman had said the carrier would concentrate on its domestic market, which is still largely untapped.
Potential
"Indonesia has a very huge market potential with a population of over 250 million and less than 10 percent presently travel by air," he said.
He has also announced plans to list in Singapore by the middle of next year.
Aircraft accidents are not rare in Indonesia, a vast archipelago nation stretching over 5,000km.
Public and private Indonesian airlines have been repeatedly criticized over their poor safety records, repeated delays and bad management.
RSS