The airline, based in Jakarta, was established in 2000 and started life as a charter helicopter service before expanding to smaller passenger planes.
Advertisement
The Twin Otter aircraft is carrying 10 people, including three children, Associated Press reported.
“According to the schedule, the plane was supposed to arrive at 15.35 p.m. But it has not arrived as of 18.05 p.m. [1105GMT]”, Mangera said.
Mr Sulistyo said the rescue efforts were likely to be carried out on Saturday morning.
“Most importantly, we will work out its position first”, Barata said.
The Transportation Ministry said a search has begun for the aircraft that lost contact on a flight from the town of Masamba, about 30 minutes before its was scheduled to land in Makassar city.
“Pray for these Aviastar Masamba-Makassar lost contact, hopefully quickly found”, a tweet by Indonesia’s Ministry of Transportation reads.
Advertisement
The country has a poor aviation safety record and has suffered major disasters in recent months, including a plane which crashed on a remote mountain in Oksibil Papua in August, killing all 54 people onboard.
