Rescue teams hunt Indonesian jet crash survivors

The Boeing 737-400 had sent distress signals an hour after taking off from Java island en route to Sulawesi, and an official said it had been flying too low.

It was the second transport disaster in Indonesia within a few days. Late Friday a ferry carrying 600 people sank off Java in an accident blamed on bad weather.

The plane wreckage was discovered in dense jungle at a height of about 350 to 500 metres (1,150 to 1,650 feet), the head of the search and rescue team said in Makassar, capital of South Sulawesi, contradicting earlier reports that it crashed at about 2,600 metres.

"The plane has been completely destroyed after it crashed into the dense jungle," Muslimin told AFP.

"I was informed via radio by the local community that 90 people had died and 12 had survived but we do not know the details yet of who survived."

He said the wreckage was about 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the town of Polewali, or 200 kilometres north of Makassar.

Thick jungle was hampering access to the site, which was an eight-hour trek from Polewali, he said. The weather and arduous terrain were also complicating matters.

"It is raining heavily and we have lost contact with some people there," Muslimin said.

"We are sending more search and rescue teams out there by foot. We had earlier sent one team by helicopter but we could not see anything because of the heavy forest covering the area," he said. "We have to clear the path as we walk there."

National transportation safety commission chief Setio Rahardjo earlier said the wreckage was discovered at a height of 8,000 feet (2,600 metres).

"The question is why was the plane flying at 8,000 feet -- that is what we are trying to find out. The plane was supposed to be flying at 32,000 feet," Rahardjo said, according to the detikcom online news service.

Sulawesi is mostly mountainous rainforest, with peaks up to 3,450 metres and several active volcanoes.

The jet was carrying 85 adult passengers, 11 children, including four babies, and six crew when it crashed. Three Americans were among the passengers.

"There are three foreign citizens, all American from one family," Adam Air spokesman Ali told AFP, naming them as Scott Jackson and daughters Stephanie and Lindsay.  It was not immediately clear if they were among the survivors.

The Adam Air plane took off Monday at 12:59 pm (0559 GMT) from Surabaya on Java bound for Manado in northeast Sulawesi, but sent distress signals and disappeared off radar screens just over an hour later, about halfway through the flight.

The Surabaya airport duty manager said there were no technical problems with the plane when it took off. Adam Air officials said the 17-year-old aircraft was last inspected on December 25.

It is not yet known what caused the crash but the area has been hit by bad weather, with high winds since last weekend.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono pointed the finger at the weather for the plane and ferry accidents.

"I enter this year with mixed feelings. On one hand we have good progress, but on the other hand we have these latest accidents," he said at the opening of the stock exchange for the first day of trade in 2007.

"Even though they are mostly caused by unfriendly weather phenomena, we still have to be alert (to weather conditions)," he said.

Aircraft accidents are not uncommon in Indonesia, a vast archipelago nation stretching over 5,000 kilometres (3,100 miles).

Public and private Indonesian airlines have been repeatedly criticised over their poor safety records, repeated delays and bad management.

Privately owned Adam Air began operations in 2003 and serves mainly domestic routes. Singapore and Malaysias Penang are its only international destinations.

The company is a leading low-cost carrier in the competitive Indonesian market, marketing itself as a "boutique airline" placed between traditional budget firms and regular airlines.