Russian Superjet Goes Missing During Demo Flight With 50 On Board

By Ahmad Fuad Yahya JAKARTA, May 10 (Bernama) -- A Sukhoi SuperJet 100, a Russian passenger plane vanished from radar during a demonstration flight in Indonesia, with about 50 people on board, including journalists. The plane which took off from the Halim Perdanakusuma International Airport, Jakarta at 2pm, lost radio contact with the control tower and vanished while flying over Gunung Salak in the Bogor and Sukabumi district in West Java at a height of 6,000 feet at about 3.50pm. Press Attaché in the Russian Embassy in Jakarta, Dmitry Solodov said the Russian embassy was doing everything possible with the authorities to search for the missing plane. Meanwhile, Indonesian Air Force spokesman Commodore Azman Yunus said the Badan SAR Nasional (Basarnas) was involved in the search for the missing flight. "The TNI AU is not directly involved in the search for the Russian jet which is a passenger aircraft," he said. The Sukhoi Superjet 100 was in Indonesia for demonstration flights being introduced to prospective buyers from the Indonesian aviation industry. -- BERNAMA