YANGON, 7 June (BelTA - Xinhua) - An aircraft of the Myanmar air force with 104 passengers aboard went missing Wednesday afternoon, confirmed the release of the Office of the Commander-in-chief of the Defense Services .
The 104 passengers include 90 army family members and 14 crew members. The aircraft was on its flight from southern Tanintharyi region's Myeik to Yangon, said the release.
With a load of 2.4 tons of welfare goods, the aircraft took off from Myeik air base at 01:06 p.m. local time for Yangon. But when the aircraft reached a height of 18,000 feet (5,400 meters) at about 01:35 p.m.local time, it lost contact with the ground at a location 32 km west of Dawei and went missing.
The aircraft was on a round trip transport mission in accordance with the route Yangon-Myeik-Botepyinn-Myeik-Yangon.
Two aircrafts of the air force and four vessels of the navy have begun search and rescue operation since 2 p.m. local time on the day in the area where the aircraft went missing, the release said.
