Russian jet with 44 aboard missing in Indonesia

JAKARTA: A Russian Sukhoi Superjet 100 on a demonstration flight with at least 44 people aboard went missing in a mountainous area south of the Indonesian capital Jakarta on Wednesday, officials said.

'The plane disappeared from the radar around the Bogor area. We are still looking for it and we are uncertain whether it crashed,' said Gagah Prakoso, spokesman for the national search and rescue agency.

The plane took off at 2pm (3pm Singapore time) from east Jakarta's Halim Perdanakusuma airport, which is used for some commercial and military flights, he said.

'At 2.50pm it dropped from 3,000m to 1,800m,' the agency added in a text message to AFP. (AFP)