Post date: May 09, 2012 6:18:41 PM
MOSCOW, RUSSIA (MAY 9, 2012) (REUTERS) - A Russian Sukhoi passenger plane with 50 people on board, including businessmen and Russian envoys, went missing during a demonstration flight near a
volcano on Indonesia's Java island on Wednesday (May 9), officials said.
Russian Sukhoi Superjet-100 goes missing over Indonesia, Russia's United Aircraft Corporation spokesperson says the crew was experienced and there were no signs that anything was amiss with the plane.
Indonesia's search and rescue agency said radio contact with the plane was lost at about 0800 GMT after the jet descended to 6,000 feet around Mount Salak, a volcano 7,254 feet above sea level, south of the capital Jakarta.
The Superjet-100 plane - Russia's first all-new passenger jet since the fall of the Soviet Union - was carrying Indonesian businessmen, Russian embassy officials and journalists, and a search by helicopter and land had so far not found it, Indonesian and Russian officials said.
The Indonesian search and rescue agency is looking for the jet near one of many volcanoes that form the backbone of Indonesia's main island. Air traffic accidents are common in the sprawling Southeast Asian archipelago of 17,000 islands.
Transport ministry spokesman Bambang Ervan said the plane was flying at 10,000 feet and asked for permission to descend to 6,000 feet.
Those on board included eight crew and 42 guests according to the latest figures from the Russian embassy in Jakarta, Sunaryo, chairman of Sukhoi's Indonesian agent PT Trimarga Rekatama, told a news conference. There were eight Russians on board, including pilots and technicians, Dmitry Solodov from the embassy said earlier.
Olga Kayukova, a spokeswoman for Russia's United Aircraft Corporation told Reuters there were no signs that anything was amiss with the plane.
"We know that the Sukhoi Superjet carried out two demonstration flights. This was actually the second flight. The first demo flight proceeded absolutely routinely. No failures in the functioning of the technical system were identified. Besides that, before the second flight, the plane underwent thorough full-scale technical preparations, and the plane was absolutely regularly allowed to carry out the flight. That's why it's groundless to talk about any technical problems so far. So we'll wait for the results," she said.
Kayukova said before Wednesday's flights, the same plane carried out similar, but successful, demonstration flights in Myanmar, Pakistan and Kazakhstan as part of a 15,500-km (9,630-mile) six-nation Asian tour to try to drum up more international customers. The aircraft is being marketed internationally in partnership with Finmeccanica subsidiary Alenia Aeronautica.
And, she said, the crew was experienced.
"The chief pilot of Sukhoi Civil Aricraft, Alexander Yablontsev, was piloting the plane. His total flight experience is more than 10,000 flight hours. With the Superjet, 1,300 hours. And actually he piloted the first experimental plane under similar rather difficult conditions," Kayukova said. "That's why, you know, it's too early to give any more detailed comments. We'll wait for the search results."
Sukhoi, which has orders for 170 planes worldwide, plans to produce up to 1,000 superjets, primarily for foreign markets. It aimed to sell 42 planes to Indonesia, which is seeing a fast expanding aviation market to tap travel by a growing middle class in the world's fourth most populous nation.
The jet was developed with Western design advice and technology from Boeing and Italy's Finmeccanica, as well as avionics and engine equipment from French
aerospace firms Thales.
Built in a converted corner of a Sukhoi fighter factory in Siberia, it was first unveiled in 2007 as part of a drive to curb Russia's dependence on oil and gas and restore pride in its
aviation industry, but ran into a series of development delays.
The Superjet 100, with a capacity of 68-103 passengers, is already in service with Russia's Aeroflot and Armenian carrier Armavia.