A plane carrying 18 people is feared to have crashed in western Indonesia, government officials say.

印尼官员称，一架载有18人的飞机恐怕已经坠落在境内西部地区。

Rescue teams are heading to its last known location near the North Sumatran village of Bahorok.

Transport ministry¹ spokesman² Bambang Ervan said the CASA C-212 aircraft was on an hour-long flight between North Sumatra and Aceh provinces.

He said it lost contact with air traffic control after sending out an emergency signal.

Indonesia relies heavily on air transport and has a poor aviation³（航空） record.

In May, 27 people died when an Indonesian passenger plane crashed into the sea off the eastern province of West Papua.