A Russian-made plane carrying 46 people lost contact with air controllers while flying over mountains during a demonstration flight Wednesday in western Indonesia, officials said, CBS informs.
Search and rescue teams were heading to the area, said Bambang Ervan, a spokesman for the Ministry of Transportation. Bad weather, however, forced at least two helicopters to turn back.
The Sukhoi Superjet-100, a civilian plane, took off from Jakarta's Halim Perdanakusuma Airport at 2 p.m. and was scheduled to return 50 minutes later.
Air controllers lost contact after it reportedly dropped from 10,000 feet to 6,000 feet near the Salak mountains in West Java, said Gagah Prakoso, a spokesman for the national search agency.
