Only a few weeks after the European Commission had lifted a ban on four Indonesian Airlines, a plane with 16 people on board has gone missing in Indonesia’s Papua.

It was a twin otter plane on a small fleet called Nusantara Airline. It was going towards the border with Papua, New Guinea when it mysteriously disappeared. Head of transportation, Y. Dumaroni said that it was travelling from Sentani Airport near Jayapura. The trip should normally be only 50 minutes. There were 13 passengers including 3 babies on board with 3 crew members.

Dumaroni went on to say “We have dispatched a search and rescue team and alerted the military to look for the plane, but bad weather hampered the air search,”

Indonesia has one of the world’s worst records for air travel. They have been hampered by crashes in recent years with both its commercial and military aircrafts. This situation lead to the European commission taking Garuda Indonesia, Mandala, Airfast and Premiair of its list of carriers last month. The European action is tantamount to banning them from taking off or landing at any European airports until safety records and standards improve. Many speculate that part of the problems with commercial safety stem from corruption.