Soon after the aircraft disappeared from the radar, Indonesian rescue workers were sent to Mt Salak. After several hours of search, the rescuers found the aircraft crashed on the remote mountainside. The cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder were not recovered.
The aircraft was on a brief demonstration flight carrying Sukhoi engineers, pilots and journalists as well as officials from Indonesian carriers Kartika Airlines, Sky Aviation, KAL Star Aviation, Pelita Air, Sriwijaya Air and Airfast.
Sukhoi representatives have been on a tour of Asia, demonstrating the Sukhoi Superjet 100 to Indonesian airlines. Sukhoi intended to sell 42 Sukhoi Superjet 100s to Indonesia, whose aviation industry has expanded rapidly in recent years. Two airlines, Kartika Airlines and Sky Aviation had already ordered the aircraft.
The Superjet is a mid-range aircraft with capacity to carry up to 100 people. The military aircraft was Sukhoi's first commercial aviation plane. The aircraft was designed by Sukhoi and Italian company Finmeccanica. Several Russian and foreign firms were also involved in designing the aircraft.
