Passenger airplane missing with 10 people on board in eastern Indonesia
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A man inspect a white board with details about a plane that went missing on Sulawesi Island , at the crisis center at Sultan Hasanuddin airport in Makassar, South Sulawesi, Indonesia, Friday, Oct. 2, 2015. Transportation Ministry spokesman Julius Barata said a plane lost contact 11 minutes after taking off in good weather from Masamba in South Sulawesi province. No distress signal was received. (AP Photo/Masyudi S. Firmansyah) (The Associated Press)
An official says a passenger plane carrying 10 people has been reported missing in eastern Indonesia.
Transportation Ministry spokesman Julius Barata said the Twin Otter plane lost contact Friday while on a flight in South Sulawesi province.
He said the plane lost radio contact about 30 minutes before it was expected to land in Makassar, the provincial capital.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}It was carrying three crew and seven passengers, including three children, from Masamba in the same province.
A rescue team has been sent to search for the plane, owned by the private Aviastar Mandiri airline.
Indonesia, a sprawling archipelago of nearly 250 million people, has been plagued by transportation accidents in recent years, including plane and train crashes and ferry sinkings.