A Russian airplane carrying 50 people fell off radar screens in Indonesia, while flying in the mountainous area of the country. The flight was a demonstration flight for the new civilian plane for journalists and potential buyers.
Teams for search and rescue were headed to the area located south of the country’s capital, said the Ministry of Transportation. However, bad weather had forced at least two of the rescue helicopters to return. The new plane, the Sukhoi Superjet 100 left the Halim Perdanakusuma Airport in Jakarta just after 2:00 pm local time.
The plane fell of radar screens just 21 minutes after takeoff near the Salak Mountains, following the crews request to drop from 10,000 feet to 6,000 feet. The crew gave no explanation as to why they asked for the change in altitude.
The air search in the area had been called off as evening approached but police, soldiers and air force personnel joined the rescue efforts on the ground. Those efforts were expected to last through the night, but the area has rough terrain and is very difficult to navigate following nightfall.
Rescuers hoped to reach the plane by morning. Sukhoi, an aerospace company from Russia developed the plane and it is the first new airliner developed in Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
