Singapore helps search Indonesian missing plane

A plane belonging to the Singaporean government has joined the search of an Indonesian passenger plane went missing Monday somewhere on Sulawesi island or its waters.

The Singapore's Fokker 50 made periodic flight for five hours in turn with two other searching planes of the host country in search of Adam Air's Boeing 737-400 which went missing with 102 people onboard, an Air Force officer said Thursday.

The Indonesian Air Force deployed a Boeing 737-200 surveillance plane and a Cassa for low-altitude mission, said Eddy Suyanto, commander of the Hasannudin Air Force Base in South Sulawesi province.

"The Fokker plane from Singapore also will carry out night search with its infrared laps," he was quoted by leading news website Detikcom as saying.

Meanwhile, the Navy sends four warships equipped with sonar and three Cassa planes to the Sulawesi waters over possibility that the passenger plane had fallen into the sea, the national Antara news agency reported.

Five navy officers were among passengers of the Adam Air plane.

The U.S. embassy here has confirmed that three Americans were also aboard the plane. They were identified as Scott Jackson and his daughters Stephanie and Lindsay.

Source: Xinhua