Air transport chief says missing Indonesian jet did not send out distress signal

Thursday, January 4th 2007, 5:56 am

By: News On 6

MAKASSAR, Indonesia (AP) _ An Indonesian jetliner that vanished with 102 people aboard did not issue distress signals or report any mechanical problems, a top aviation official said Thursday, contradicting earlier reports.

Meanwhile, a fleet of aircraft took to the skies, ships scoured the sea and soldiers battled rugged jungle terrain for the third day, searching a 28,000-square-mile area _ roughly the size of California. But by late afternoon they had seen no sign of the wreckage.

Earlier this week, officials wrongly reported finding the Boeing 737's wreckage and a dozen survivors, causing anguish among the passengers' families. Among those on board were three Americans: Scott Jackson, a 54-year-old wood-products industry representative, and his daughters, 21-year-old Stephanie and 18-year-old Lindsey.

``Search efforts have expanded, they're more sophisticated ... but they haven't discovered anything as far as they've told me,'' the girls' mother, Felice Jackson DuBois of Bend, Ore., told The Associated Press by telephone Wednesday. ``It's still a zero at this point.''

Iksan Tatang, the director general of air transportation, said the missing plane reported high winds before losing contact with the ground on Monday midway through its flight from Indonesia's main island of Java to Manado on Sulawesi Island.

``The plane did not report any complaints about the navigation, the condition of the plane or other technical problems,'' he said, adding that two signals from its emergency beacon _ which is activated on impact _ were picked up by a plane in the vicinity and a satellite.

That appeared to contradict earlier reports from officials that the pilot sent out two distress signals before the plane went down.

``I urge people not to speculate. We must wait until the National Commission for Transportation Safety has located the ill-fated plane,'' Transport Minister Hatta Radjasa told reporters.

Relatives of the passengers _ some camped out at the Adam Air counter at the Manado airport _ were losing patience. More than 150 gathered at a crisis center outside the airport demanding information.

``It's been three days, we just want to know what happened,'' said Selvi Kawengian, 43, whose younger brother was on the plane with his wife and 18-month-old son.

Top Indonesian aviation, military and police officials _ and the airline itself _ earlier claimed the plane had been found in remote mountains. They said that 90 people on board had perished, but the remaining 12 survived.

``Indonesia is a place full of miscommunication, contradictory information and confusion during an accident like this,'' said Nicholas Ionides, managing editor for Flight International Magazine in Asia. ``There is gossip and rumor and you never know what the facts are.''