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.
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
EUROPEAN FUTURE? Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama says only he could secure EU membership, but challenges remain in dealing with corruption and a brain drain Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama seeks to win an unprecedented fourth term, pledging to finally take the country into the EU and turn it into a hot tourist destination with some help from the Trump family. The artist-turned-politician has been pitching Albania as a trendy coastal destination, which has helped to drive up tourism arrivals to a record 11 million last year. US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also joined in the rush, pledging to invest US$1.4 billion to turn a largely deserted island into a luxurious getaway. Rama is expected to win another term after yesterday’s vote. The vote would
ALLIES: Calling Putin his ‘old friend,’ Xi said Beijing stood alongside Russia ‘in the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying’ Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday was in Moscow for a state visit ahead of the Kremlin’s grand Victory Day celebrations, as Ukraine accused Russia’s army of launching air strikes just hours into a supposed truce. More than 20 foreign leaders were in Russia to attend a vast military parade today marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, taking place three years into Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and has marshaled the memory of Soviet victory against Nazi Germany to justify his campaign and rally society behind the offensive,
Myanmar’s junta chief met Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) for the first time since seizing power, state media reported yesterday, the highest-level meeting with a key ally for the internationally sanctioned military leader. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing led a military coup in 2021, overthrowing Myanmar’s brief experiment with democracy and plunging the nation into civil war. In the four years since, his armed forces have battled dozens of ethnic armed groups and rebel militias — some with close links to China — opposed to its rule. The conflict has seen Min Aung Hlaing draw condemnation from rights groups and pursued by the
RSS