Indonesian Jet Radioed Distress Call Before Disappearing

ANN REALTIME UPDATE 01.01.07 2200 EST: Indonesian air force pilots say they've spotted the wreckage of a missing Adam Air jet in a mountainous region of Sulawesi.

Initial reports from the scene gave little hope for any of the 102 persons reported onboard the 737. However, CNN reports a spokesman for Adam Air said 12 people survived the crash.

"The plane is in ruins. We are sending teams to the location. The plane was found around 20 kilometers from Polewali in the mountains," said First Air Marshal Eddy Suyanto, commander of Hasanuddin air base in the Sulawesi city of Makassar.

The National Transportation Safety Board said Monday it will send a team to assist the government of Indonesia in its investigation of the crash.

Original Report

11:00 EST: An Indonesian Adam Air 737-400 (file photo of a similar -300 shown below) passenger jet said to be carrying 102 passengers and crew sent a distress signal before controllers lost contact with it earlier today.

Indonesian transport minister Hatta Radjasa told the local news radio the signal was picked by a station in central province of the nation's island of Sulawesi and the agency had dispatched search and rescue crews to the area.

According to the Associated Press, Indonesian air traffic controllers lost contact with the jet as it cruised at 35,00 feet between the islands of Java and Sulawesi. The jet departed Surabaya in East Java around 13:00 local. Contact had still not been made more than six hours after its scheduled 15:00 local arrival at Manado near the northern tip of Sulawesi.

An Indonesian air traffic controller Bhabr (many Indonesians use only one name) told a local TV station the plane hit "very bad" weather. Airline officials say the aircraft had enough fuel for a four-hour flight. "This is an emergency," he said.

Minister Radjasa said, "Let's hope the plane had an emergency landing."

An airport spokesman told the Associated press the country's Navy had been contacted to aid in a possible seaborne search effort.

ANN will post more information on this developing story as it becomes available.

FMI: www.adamair.co.id