MAKASSAR , Indonesia, Oct. 2 (UPI) — Radio contact with a small passenger plane carrying 10 people was lost minutes before it was scheduled to land Friday in Makassar, Indonesia, police said.
The DeHavilland Twin Otter aircraft, flown by the Aviastar Mandiri airline, was travelling from Masamba when contact was lost. Two children and a baby were among the 10 passengers aboard.
A rescue team was sent to search for the plane on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.
“According to schedule, the plane should have arrived [in Makassar] at 3.35 p.m., but it still wasn’t there at 6.05 p.m. The last contact made was 11 minutes from Masamba,” said Sulawesi police spokesman Kombes F. Barung Mangera.
Indonesia has been at the center of numerous transport crashes and disappearances in recent years. It has a rapidly expanding economy but lacks qualified pilots, mechanics, air traffic controllers and advanced technology. Aviastar Mandiri’s flights typically are domestic, but the airline has been excluded from European Union countries because of its safety record.
