JAKARTA - A small plane operated by PT Nusantara Buana Airline with 18 people on board lost contact when it was passing Kutacane of Aceh province in northern tip of Sumatra island of Indonesia on Thursday, spokesman of Transport Ministry Bambang Ervan said.

CASA 212 aircraft had given emergency signals which were received by a small plane Susi Air passing the area, the spokesman told Xinhua by phone.

The missing plane left Medan the capital of North Sumatra province at 07:15 am local time (0015 GMT) and should have arrived at Kutacane town of Aceh province at 08 :00 a.m. local time (0200 GMT), said Ervan.