Australia and Oceania countries

Home page

Indonesia searching for missing surveillance plane with 11 onboard

17 January 2026 22:52 (UTC +04:00)

Indonesian rescuers were searching on Saturday for an ATR 42-500 fisheries surveillance aircraft that went missing with 11 people on board, officials said, APA reports citing Reuters.

The Indonesia Air Transport plane lost contact with air traffic control at about 1:30 p.m. (0530 GMT) around Maros region in South Sulawesi province, Andi Sultan, an official at the local rescue agency, told Reuters.

The aircraft had been heading to Makassar, the capital of South Sulawesi, after departing from Yogyakarta province before contact was lost, Sultan said.

There were eight crew and three passengers on board, he added.

Around 400 personnel, including military and police units, were deployed to search for the plane and those on board, though the effort was being hampered by bad weather, Sultan said. He declined to comment on the possible cause of the incident.

"We suspect the plane came down near the peak of Mount Bulusaraung. We have deployed our personnel there," he said.