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Plane carrying 16 disappears over Indonesian Papua

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-08-02 15:26

JAKARTA: A plane carrying 16 people disappeared over eastern Indonesia on Sunday, an airline official said.

This image provided by NOAA shows a Aug. 10, 2007 file photo of a DeHavilland DHC6 Twin Otter similar to the one belonging to Merpati Nusantari airline that has gone missing over Indonesia's Papua region early Sunday Aug. 2, 2009. [Agencies]

The Twin Otter plane was on a commercial flight in the remote Papua region when it lost contact with ground officials, said Capt. Nikmatullah, the director of operations of the airline operating the plane, Merpati Nusantara.

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Nikmatullah, who goes by a single name, said no trace had been found of the plane more then four hours after it took off. The aircraft was carrying enough fuel to keep it in the air for 3 1/2 hours, he told Metro TV station.

The plane was on a 50-minute journey from Sentani, a major airport in Papua, to the town of Oksibil, he said.

Much of Papua is covered with impenetrable jungles and mountains. In the past, crashed planes have never been found.

Indonesia, a nation of more than 18,000 islands, has seen a string of air crashes in recent years.