Wreckage of new Superjet spotted
Indonesian rescuers have spotted wreckage of a Russian Sukhoi aircraft that went missing with up to 50 people on board the previous day.
The plane has been seen in a mountainous area south of the capital, Jakarta, while on a demonstration flight. A search helicopter spotted the wreckage on the edge of a cliff at 1675 metres.
There was no word about the fate of those on board.
‘‘The airplane crashed at the edge of Salak mountain . . . An investigation must be done immediately and thoroughly,’’ President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said.
Radio contact with the Superjet 100 aircraft, Russia’s first all-new passenger jet since the fall of the Soviet Union, was lost on Wednesday night after it descended to 6000 feet around Mount Salak, a dormant volcano 7254ft (2211m) above sea level, officials said.
Rescuers, who began searching the heavily wooded area about 65km south Jakarta, at dawn, were converging on the site of the debris, search and rescue official Ketut Parwa said.
The aircraft was carrying Indonesian businessmen, Russian embassy officials and journalists. Dimitry Solodov from the embassy said eight Russians were on board, including pilots and technicians.
Those on board included eight crew and 42 guests, according to the Russian embassy, Sunaryo, chairman of Sukhoi’s Indonesian agent, PT Trimarga Rekatama, said yesterday.
The aircraft made two demonstration flights on Wednesday. It returned to Halim Perdanakusuma airport, east of Jakarta, after the first flight where some people got off and others boarded.
Sukhoi, which has orders for 170 planes worldwide, plans to make up to 1000 Superjets, mainly for foreign markets. It aimed to sell 42 planes to Indonesia, which is seeing a fastexpanding aviation market that aims 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 companies including Italy’s Finmeccanica, plus avionics and engine equipment from French aerospace firms Thales and Safran.
Built in a converted corner of a Sukhoi fighter factory in Siberia, the Superjet was unveiled in 2007 as part of a drive to restore pride in Russia’s aviation industry, but it ran into a series of development delays.
The Superjet 100, which can carry 68-103 passengers, is already in service with Russia’s Aeroflot and Armenian carrier Armavia and is half way through a six-nation Asian tour to try to drum up more international customers.