A small passenger plane with 10 people aboard is missing on a domestic flight in eastern Indonesia, officials said on Friday.

Indonesia Transportation Ministry spokesman Julius Barata said the DHC-6 Twin Otter plane lost contact at 0636 GMT; 11 minutes after taking off from Masamba in South Sulawesi province. No distress signal was received.

The plane which was headed for Makassar, the provincial capital, was carrying three crew and seven passengers, including three children, Barata said.

“The aircraft is operated by Aviastar airline,’’ he added.

A rescue team has been sent to search for the plane, owned by the private Aviastar Mandiri airline.