Ervan, the ministry's spokesman. He said he believed the plane had not made an emergency landing.

Meanwhile, the state-run Antara news agency quoted Merpati's president-director Bambang Bhakti as saying that the search was focused on eight different spots in the mountainous, thickly jungled Papua province.

The Twin Otter plane with 12 passengers on board, including two babies, and a crew of three lost contact with ground control about 15 minutes after departing from Jayapura. It was headed to Oksibil airport for a scheduled 55-minute flight.

Papua relies on air transport owing to its limited road network.