An Indonesian plane with 16 people on board operated by Merpati Airline went missing in eastmost Papua province of Indonesia Sunday morning, spokesman of Transport Ministry Bambang Erfan said today. The plane departed from the Sentani airport of Papua province at 13:30 local time (0630 GMT) and was heading to Oksibil town in the province when it went missing, the spokesman said. "The plane lost contact about 10 minutes after takeoff," Erfan told Xinhua.

A rescue team has set out to search the missing plane, he said.

The European Commission has just lifted travel ban on four of Indonesia's carriers, including leading Garuda, and the country is struggling to terminate the ban on the 37 other carriers, probably in negotiations in September.

(Xinhua News Agency August 2, 2009)