Singaporean plane joins search for missing airliner

(7 Jan 2007) 1. Wide of Singaporean Fokker plane on tarmac 2. Medium of plane 3. Various aerials of sea seen from Singaporean plane 4. Various men looking out of window 5. Various of sea out of plane window 6. Patch of Singapore flag on sleeve 7. Various of man looking out of window 8. Wide of news conference 9. SOUNDBITE: (Indonesian) Eddy Suyanto, Chief of search and rescue: "There is a plan for an American civilian ship to come here to help us (in the search for the missing plane)." 10. Various of maps 11. SOUNDBITE: (Indonesian) Eddy Suyanto, Chief of search and rescue: "Up until today we haven't found it, there is no sign of it (referring to plane)." (Reporter: Are you going to expand search area?) "We are sharpening our search in the area we have been exploring with choppers this time." 12. Medium of rescue map STORYLINE: Singapore on Sunday sent a plane to aid Indonesia in its efforts to locate a jetliner that disappeared with 102 people on board nearly a week ago. Nearly 3-thousand soldiers, police and civilians have been battling the dense jungles in search of wreckage, and sonar-equipped ships and an air fleet have been scouring surrounding seas, but so far they have found no trace of the Boeing 737. The pilot of Adam Air Flight KI-574 said he was encountering 130 kilometres per hour (80 miles per hour) winds near Sulawesi island's coastal town of Majene and then disappeared from the radar Monday, but did not issue a mayday or report any technical problems. Indonesia's Vice President Jusuf Kalla said the search would be ongoing, "even if it takes a month", after meeting with search officials and families of the passengers, who urged him to do more. The Adam Air plane left Indonesia's main island of Java for the North Sulawesi provincial capital of Manado on Monday afternoon but had to twice change its flight path because of severe winds and storms, said Eddy Suyanto, head of the search and rescue mission. It lost contact over the coastal town of Majene, halfway into the two-hour trip, and there has been no emergency location signal to guide the rescue effort. Singapore has been helping carry out aerial surveys Suyanto said at a news conference on Sunday. "There is a plan for an American civilian ship to come here to help us," he added. US embassy officials confirmed the American Navy's USNS Mary Sears Oceanographic survey ship would join the search on Monday. Three Americans, a man from Oregon and his two daughters, were among the plane's 96 passengers. Suyanto also told reporters that the search was being augmented by the use of helicopters. Earlier, National Search and Rescue Agency officials said four helicopters were added to the air fleet with two more coming on Monday. A day after the plane disappeared, authorities wrongly said they found the jet's charred wreckage and that there were 12 survivors, causing anguish among family members, many of whom have been camped out at nearby airports and hotels. Adam Air is one of about 30 budget carriers that sprang up in Indonesia after the industry was deregulated in 1998. The rapid expansion has led to cheap flights to scores of destinations across Indonesia, but has also raised concerns about maintenance of the leased planes. Keyword- aircraft aviation Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...