Search for crashed plane bogged down by bad weather

Air-force planes took to the skies in search of a missing plane and navy ships scoured the sea today, one day after senior Indonesian officials wrongly said a crashed Boeing 737’s wreckage had been found and that a dozen people had survived.

Forecasts of heavy storms, meanwhile, were threatening rescue efforts already hampered by a potentially damaged emergency locator, remote mountainous terrain and choppy waters.

“Until now, we have not yet found any signal or indication of where the ill-fated plane crashed,” Air Force official Eddy Suyanto, the search mission co-ordinator, said.

The Adam Air plane carrying 102 people was flying from Indonesia’s main island of Java to North Sulawesi’s provincial capital of Manado when it disappeared on Monday in severe weather after sending out distress signals, the first over forested mountains and the second along the coast.

Authorities today expanded their search to include the sea, with three navy ships setting sail just after sunrise in the Makkasar Strait and five air-force planes flying over a 300-square-mile area.