Just saw this on CNN.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) -- An Indonesian passenger jet carrying about 100 people sent out a distress signal Monday before the airline lost contact with the plane, Indonesia's transport minister told an Indonesian radio program.

Hatta Radjasa told El-Shinta radio a distress signal had been picked up over central Sulawesi and rescue crews were on their way to search for survivors.

Radjasa said the plane had been spotted above the Mamuju forest on Sulawesi. "(It was) preliminary information from a plane flying above it. It will be the first clue for SAR (Search and Rescue) to move to the area. "Let's hope it made an emergency landing," he said.

An official with the airline, Adam Air, said the Boeing 737-400 was carrying 96 passengers and six crew members. Adam Air said it was setting up an information center for families of passengers.

The airline said the plane was heading to Manado on Sulawesi island. It had originated in Jakarta with a stopover in Surabaya, on Java Island.

A senior transport ministry official, Ichsan Tatang, told The Associated Press aviation authorities were investigating whether other flights might have picked up the plane's distress signal.

An Indonesian air traffic controller, Bhabr, told Metro TV the plane hit "very bad" weather and may have run out of fuel because, if still airborne, would be "over its (fuel) limit." Bhabr, like many Indonesians, uses only one name.

Adam Air is a privately owned low-cost airline that began operations in Indonesia several years ago. Most of its flights are domestic.

Last year, one of its jetliners lost all communication and navigation systems for four hours during a flight between the Indonesian capital Jakarta and Makassar on Sulawesi Island forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing.

At least 90 die in Indonesian jet crash By ZAKKI HAKIM, Associated Press Writer
5 minutes ago



JAKARTA, Indonesia - Rescue teams Tuesday found the smoldering wreckage of an Indonesian jetliner that went missing over Indonesia's Sulawesi island during a storm, officials said. At least 90 of the 102 people on board were killed, a local official

"The plane is destroyed and many bodies are around there," said local police Chief Col. Genot Hariyanto.

Navy rear commander Eddy Suyanto told el-Shinta radio station that the plane had crashed in a mountainous region in Polewali, west Sulawesi province.

Local mayor Ali Bahal told el-Shinta that at least 90 people on board were killed.

There was no word on the fate of the remaining 12 people on board the Boeing 737-400, which was on a domestic flight from Java island to Sulawesi when it disappeared late Monday

Sad news about one of my fave LCC's

It's sad news, and the reason for the crash could be many, but I for one, would not step foot on an Indonesian LCC. GA is bad enough, but when I saw pics of Lion Air and Adam Air's planes and how poorly kept they are, it scares me.

Not to say other airliners do not crash, I'd rather take my chances with other airlines

Hmmm, I have my first flight on Adam Air later this month! Or maybe not! Sometimes one thing like this will shut the whole airline down.

I've used Adam Air and Lion Air (Wing Air). I always thought Adam Air's service is fine and their aircrafts are well maintained.

Now Lion Air on the other hand

I'd heard good things about AdamAir which is why I booked them to CGK from SIN. I've flown Air Asia, AW, Lion Air, Star and a few others, all with no problems.

I wouldn't worry about Adam Air if I were you JC.

Accidents happened .. if it's your time there's nothing you can do about it.

You may like to read what the professionals involved with Adam Air have to say about the operation :

http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=240082

Officials deny Indonesian jetliner found

By ZAKKI HAKIM, Associated Press Writer 10 minutes ago

POLEWALI MANDAR, Indonesia - Indonesia's transportation minister said Tuesday that rescuers had not found the wreckage of a missing passenger jetliner, despite earlier statements from aviation and police officials that it had been located.The Adam Air Boeing 737 carrying 102 people sent out two distress signals in stormy weather Monday. It was halfway through its two-hour flight from Indonesia's main island of Java to Manado, on the northern tip of Sulawesi, one of the largest islands in the sprawling archipelago.

"The search and rescue team is still looking for the location," Transport Minister Hatta Radjasa told El-Shinta radio, insisting that earlier statements that the wreckage had been located were based on rumors from villagers that were passed on to local officials. "It has not yet been found."

Police Chief Col. Genot Hariyanto had earlier said that rescue teams arrived at the crash site on Sulawesi's western coast early Tuesday and found the charred wreckage of Adam Air Flight KI-574 and scores of bodies.

Setyo Raharjo, head of the National Commission on Transportation Safety, also said that searchers had found 90 bodies at the scene and the search for the other 12 was continuing. He had said the crash site was inaccessible by helicopter or car.

Other senior aviation officials also later retreated from the reports that the wreckage had been found.

Yeah I read about that earlier today

Adam Air has to have some of the nicest, most warm friendly people I have ever flown with. I�ve flown them a few times and flew SUB-CGK with them just a month ago. They always seat me in 1A and the FA's are always so nice and like to chat while seated for take off and landing so knowing how nice their people are ads a very human face to it. On landing at SUB a month ago and being surprised to see the new terminal open I ask the FA about it as we taxied and she was just bubbling and excited about it too since it was also her first flight into SUB since the new terminal had opened. I hope that lady was not flying out of SUB yesterday.

I'll reserve judgment as to cause. They are an Indonesian domestic airline....... There certainly could be maintenance issues and their planes did not look perfect to me. One of their pilots holds my personal record for scariest landing ever as well, with a 3 bounce on only the left wheels landing at CGK, although strong gusting crosswinds probably had allot to do with that and he did put it down safely. But when a plane disappears off of radar at 35,000 feet on New Years day in a country with a history if terror incidents and weak airport security, other causes come to mind as well. Add that there were three Americans on board which is probably uncharacteristic as well and would make a more tempting target for some I am sure. I am surprised the terror angle is not being thrown around more. I'll wait to find out. I flew Mandala out of SUB just a few days ago and while Adam Air's planes showed some wear and tear they certainly looked much better to me than the very decrepit 737-200 Mandala offered. I'll wait and see, but in the mean time I would still fly Adam Air and mainly just feel sad for there people and the families of those who were lost.

I met Mr. Adam once in the SQ lounge in HKG (at that time i didn't know who he was) but he was very aloof and quirky. Anyway we have this long conversation about aviation and he said his favorite airline was SQ and how much he loves them etc etc...and says that he was flying SQ on to CGK. By the end of the conversation, i was convinced that the guy was staff of SQ....so imagine my surprise when he told me that he also had an airline called Adam Air!

When i was next in Jakarta i bought a RT ticket on Adam Air to DPS our of curiosity. That was probably my second most scariest flight ever (first was a night flight on Kish Air from DXB to Kish Island!) and needless to say i didn't use the return portion of the ticket.

I'd rather take my chances skydiving without a parachute than flying Adam Air.

You might also want to read these threads from our friends over at A.net...

http://www.airliners.net/discussions...n/3175980/1/#1
http://www.airliners.net/discussions...in/2949301//6/

Can I ask what you found so scary about them? I've flown Adam Air SIN-CGK return and the scariest thing was the McDonalds hamburger for the inflight meal (full trip report). However, scuttlebutt says that SIN's authorization to Adam Air is limited to the one plane in their fleet that is less than 10 years old, and thus flies to SIN full-time...

And I'd also be interested in your Kish Air experiences, please drop me a PM if you're written about it somewhere.

I've heard good things about the SIN-CGK flight, which is why I purchased my first ticket with them. Hopefully that one good plane is still in service.