JAYAPURA, Indonesia, Aug 2 (Reuters) - A plane with 16 people on board went missing in Indonesia's eastern region of Papua, an official said on Sunday, just weeks after the European Commission lifted a ban on four Indonesian airlines.The Twin Otter plane, owned by Merpati Nusantara airline, was heading to Oksibil, near the border with Papua New Guinea, from Sentani airport near Jayapura, said Y. Dumaroni, head of transportation in Bintang regency.The trip normally takes about 50 minutes by air. Three crew members and 13 passengers, including two babies were on board, Dumaroni told Reuters."We have dispatched a search and rescue team and alerted the military to look for the plane, but bad weather hampered the air search," Dumaroni said.Indonesia has suffered a series of air disasters in recent years, affecting both its commercial and military aircraft.Last month, the European Commission took four Indonesian airlines -- flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, Mandala, Airfast and Premiair -- off its list of carriers banned from taking off or landing in the European Union, citing safety improvements.However, the ban remains in place for all other Indonesian airlines. (Reporting by Oka Barta Daud in Jayapura; Writing by Karima Anjani; Editing by Sara Webb and Sugita Katyal)
An Air Seychelles DHC-300 Twin Otter  
A plane carrying sixteen people has vanished over Papua, Indonesia. The Twin Otter propeller-driven aircraft has a crew of three and thirteen passengers, two of whom are babies.

The plane, which belonged to Merpati Nusantara Airlines, was travelling from Sentani Airport, Jayapura, Papua to Oksibil, a town near the Papua New Guinean border. The journey normally takes fifty minutes and only three hours and thirty minutes worth of fuel was on board. It is believed the aircraft has crashed.

Both transportation authorities and the military have launched bids to locate the missing plane, with at least two aircraft taking off to search for the aircraft. However, poor weather conditions have forced these aircraft to return to land.

The plane was over a mountainous area covered with dense forest when air traffic control lost contact. "We're focusing our search on the border between the Kerom and Pegunungan Bintang districts... it's a mountainous, jungly region," said air force commander Suwandi Miharja, who is in charge of the search. Aircraft lost in this region have sometimes never been located after suspected crashes.