An ATR 42-500 aircraft in a file photo. Benoit Tessier/Reuters
JAKARTA, Indonesia—A passenger aircraft carrying 11 people lost contact with ground control Saturday while approaching a mountainous region between Indonesia’s main island of Java and Sulawesi island, officials said. A search and rescue operation has been launched.
The turboprop ATR 42-500 operated by the Indonesia Air Transport was on its way from Yogyakarta to the capital city of South Sulawesi when it vanished from radar, said Endah Purnama Sari, a spokesperson for the Transportation Ministry. The plane was last tracked at 01:17 p.m. (05:17 GMT) in the Leang-Leang area of Maros, a mountainous district of South Sulawesi province.
