Russian Plane Vanishes in Indonesia, close to 50 on board

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) A new Russian-made passenger plane went missing over mountains in western Indonesia while on a demonstration flight Wednesday arranged for potential buyers. Fifty people were on board, including diplomats, businesspeople and journalists. Search and rescue teams were deployed to the area just south of the capital, Jakarta, said Bambang Ervan, a spokesman for the Ministry of Transportation. He said more than 100 people were still searching the rugged, forested terrain after darkness fell. Bad weather, however, forced at least two helicopters to turn back. The Sukhoi Superjet-100, Russia’s first new passenger jet since the fall of the Soviet Union, took off from the Halim Perdanakusuma Airport at 2:21 pm (0721 GMT) for what was supposed to be a quick test flight the second of the day. It dropped off the radar just 21 minutes later, shortly after the crew asked air traffic control for permission to drop from 10000 feet to 6000 feet (3000 meters to 1800 meters), said Daryatmo, chief of the national search and rescue agency.

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