Passenger plane with ten aboard goes missing in Indonesia

A passenger plane has been reported missing in Indonesia.

The Twin Otter aircraft is carrying ten people, including three children, Associated Press reported.

Seven passengers and three crew members were flying through the South Sulawesi province when they lost radio contact roughly 30 minutes before it was due to land in the provincial capital of Makassar.

Transportation Ministry spokesman Julius Barata confirmed a search crew had been dispatched for the passenger plane – owned by airline Aviastar Mandiri.

The airline, based in Jakarta, was established in 2000 and started life as a charter helicopter service before expanding to smaller passenger planes. 

Indonesia has "a notoriously bad air safety record"  with 59 of 63 airlines banned from flying in European Union airspace.