A Myanmar military flight is missing with 120 people on board, a Myanmar military spokesman told CNN on Wednesday.

Crews are searching for the plane in the Andaman Sea -- south and west of Myanmar.

Capt. Myat Min Oo said 106 passengers and 14 crew members were on the flight.

Myanmar's Armed Forces dispatched six Navy ships and three airplanes as part of the search and rescue operation. </s> A Myanmar Air Force Shaanxi Y-8 transport aircraft similar to the aircraft carrying over 100 people. Pic/AFP

Pieces of a Myanmar military plane, which went missing with more than 100 soldiers and family members aboard were found in the Andaman Sea yesterday, a local official said.

"Now they have found pieces of the damaged plane in the sea 136 miles (218 km) away from Dawei city," said Naing Lin Zaw, a tourism official in Myeik. The commander in chief's office said the plane lost contact at about 1.35 pm (local time) off Myanmar's southern coast. There was conflicting information about the number of people on board. Giving an updated figure, the office said 106 passengers were on board - soldiers and family members - along with 14 crew. More than a dozen of those on board were children.

Tragedy of actress Shikha Joshi who was molested and killed herself Download the new mid-day android app to get updates on all the latest and trending stories on the go https://goo.gl/8Xlcvr </s> YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — A military transport plane with 120 people on board went missing today on a flight from southern Myanmar to Yangon, a military spokesman said.

There were fears it may have crashed into the ocean, since its route would have taken it over the Andaman Sea.

Gen. Myat Min Oo said the Chinese-made Y-8 turboprop aircraft was carrying 106 passengers – mostly families of military personnel – and 14 crew members when it went missing this afternoon. In an earlier statement, the number of passengers was said to be 90. It is not unusual for such flights to carry civilians to offset transportation costs for military families stationed in the somewhat remote south.

"The military plane went missing and lost contact after it took off from Myeik, and now the military has started a sea and air search with naval ships and military aircraft and is preparing for rescue operations," he said.

It was raining at the time, but not heavily, he said.

Myeik, also known as Mergui, is a city in southeastern Myanmar on the Andaman coast.

An announcement posted on the Facebook page of the commander of the military, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, said the flight took off from Myeik at 1:06 p.m. and contact with it was lost at 1:35 p.m., when it was believed to be about 32 kilometers (20 miles) to the west of Dawei, formerly known as Tavoy. </s> YANGON — Ships and planes were scouring the coast of southern Myanmar on Wednesday after a military aircraft vanished over the Andaman Sea with 120 soldiers, family members and crew on board, the army and civil aviation officials said.

The Chinese-made Y-8-200F transport plane left the coastal town of Myeik at 1:06 p.m local time (2:36 a.m. ET), heading north to Myanmar's largest city of Yangon on a regular weekly military flight that stops at several coastal towns along the way, officials said.

The plane lost contact 29 minutes after take-off while flying at 18,000 feet over the sea, about 43 miles west of the town of Dawei, the military said.

"We don't know what exactly happened to this plane after the loss of contact," said Kyaw Kyaw Htey, a civil aviation official at Myeik airport.

Civil aviation authorities initially said there were 105 people onboard. The military later said those on board included 106 soldiers and their family members and 14 crew. The maximum capacity of the aircraft was 200 people, said a military officer.

It is monsoon season in Myanmar, but Kyaw Kyaw Htey said the weather had been "normal" with good visibility when the plane took off.

The military launched a search soon after the plane went missing, mobilizing six navy ships and three military planes, said the army in a news release. The search continued as darkness fell.

Some 300-400 people, including firefighters, medics, emergency and welfare officials, gathered on the shore near the town of Launglon, close to the area where the navy search was concentrated, said Naing Myo Thwin, the chairman of the local funeral association, from the scene.

"We haven't seen any trace of the plane yet," Naing Myo Thwin told Reuters by telephone. He doubles as a member of the local hospital's emergency team.

Aung Win, a local police officer also speaking from the scene by telephone, confirmed that there were a large number of people gathered on the beach. He said because they had not found any trace of the plane they were moving to other areas along the shore.

The aircraft was bought in March 2016 and had a total of 809 flying hours. It was carrying 2.4 tons of supplies, the military said.

Aircraft incidents, both civilian and military, are not uncommon in the Southeast Asian country.

A military helicopter crashed in June last year in central Myanmar, killing three military personnel on board.

Five military personnel were killed last February after an air force aircraft crashed in the country’s capital Naypyitaw, according to media reports.

Two people were killed and 11 injured after a small plane crashed in central Myanmar in 2012. </s> Rescue teams were on Thursday making the grim discovery of bodies and aircraft parts after a Chinese made plane went missing off the southern coast of Myanmar with at least 120 people on board.

Four children were among the ten bodies which have been found by navy and civilian ships after the Shaanxi Y-8-200F aircraft vanished on Wednesday, Myanmar's military said on Thursday. Other reports said 20 bodies have already been brought ashore.

The military transport plane, which disappeared en route from Myeik to Myanmar s largest city, Yangon, was carrying 35 soldiers and their families, which included 15 children, Reuters news agency said.

Reuters said the total number of passengers was 122, which included 14 crew members, while other reports said 120 people were on the plane.

The plane lost contact about half and hour after takeoff while flying at 18,000 feet (5,485 metres) over the Andaman Sea, the military said. </s> A Myanmar army aircraft with 120 people on board, including soldiers, family members and aircraft staff, went missing on Wednesday.

The plane was flying from a southern town to Yangon, the capital of Myanmar, the country formerly known as Burma.

Military and civil aviation officials said the Chinese-made Shaanxi Y-8-200F transport plane left the coastal town of Myeik on a regular weekly flight that visits several coastal towns.

The plane lost contact 29 minutes after take off while flying at about 6,000m over the Andaman Sea, about 70km west of the town of Dawei, the military said.

“We don’t know what exactly happened to this plane after the loss of contact,” said Kyaw Kyaw Htey, a civil aviation official at Myeik airport. Civil aviation authorities initially said there were 105 people onboard.

The military later said those on board included 106 soldiers and family members and 14 aircraft staff. The maximum capacity of the aircraft is 200 people, said a military officer.

Officials said the weather had been “normal” with good visibility when the plane took off.

The military launched the search soon after the plane went missing, mobilising six navy ships and three military planes.

The search went on as darkness fell.

The plane was bought in March 2016 and had a total of 809 flying hours. It was carrying 2.4 tons of supplies, the military said. </s> A military aircraft with 120 passengers and crew on board has gone missing off the coast of Myanmar.

The Chinese-made Y-8F-200 took off from the southern coastal town of Myeik at 1.06pm local time on Wednesday and was heading to Myanmar’s largest city, Yangon.

It was on a regular, weekly flight that takes in several coastal towns.

Those on board included 106 soldiers and family members and 14 crew, the military said.

Myanmar’s military said it lost contact while flying at 18,000ft over the Andaman Sea, 29 minutes after take off.

A statement on the Facebook page of military commander Senior General Min Aung Hlaing said the plane was believed to have been about 20 miles (32km) to the west of Dawei when it went missing.

Six navy ships and three military planes were mobilised to look for it, with the hunt continuing as darkness fell.

A civil aviation official at Myeik airport, Kyaw Kyaw Htey, said: “We don’t know what exactly happened to this plane after the loss of contact,” adding that the weather at take-off had been “normal”, with good visibility.

The plane, with a maximum capacity of 200, was bought in March 2016 and had 809 flying hours.

There were 2.4 tons of supplies on board, the military said. </s> Wreckage of a Myanmar military plane which went missing with more than 100 soldiers and family members aboard were found in the Andaman Sea yesterday evening.

According to reports, the aircraft carrying more than 100 people was flying over the Andaman Sea when it lost contact with air traffic control.

Navy ships and aircraft had been searching since Wednesday afternoon when the plane lost contact with air traffic controllers.

More than a dozen children were believed to be among the passengers on the plane travelling from the southern city of Myeik to Yangon.

“Now they have found pieces of the damaged plane in the sea 136 miles (218 km) away from Dawei city,” said Naing Lin Zaw, a tourism official in Myeik, adding the navy was still searching the sea.

An air force source confirmed to AFP that a navy search and rescue ship had found pieces of the plane in the sea an hour’s flight south of Yangon, Myanmar’s commercial capital.

The commander in chief’s office said the plane lost contact at about 1:35 pm (07:05 GMT) off Myanmar’s southern coast.

There were however, conflicting information about the number of people on board While General Myat Min Oo had earlier said the Chinese-made Y-8 aircraft was carrying 90 passengers – mostly families of military personnel – and 14 crew members when it went missing.

Giving an updated figure, the commander in chief’s office said 106 passengers were on board – soldiers and family members – along with 14 crew.

Four naval ships and two air force planes were sent to search for the plane, which was flying at an altitude of more than 18,000 feet (5,486 metres).

It is monsoon season in Myanmar but there were no reports of bad weather at the time the plane went missing.

The plane was a Y-8F-200 four-engine turboprop, a Chinese-made model still commonly used by Myanmar’s military for transporting cargo.

The army said it was delivered in March last year and had logged 809 flying hours.

The former military junta bought many of the aircraft from Myanmar’s giant neighbour during their 50 years of isolated rule, when they were squeezed by Western sanctions.

A former executive at the aviation ministry said many of the aircraft in Myanmar’s fleet were old and decrepit.

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Also, Like us on facebook </s> A F-7 fighter jet on a training flight crashed on Tuesday in Central Myanmar due to “a sudden engine shutdown,’’ killing the only pilot onboard, according to the Deputy Director General of the Department of Civil Aviation, Ye Htet Aung.

The Chinese-made F-7 crashed near Taungoo Air Base in Myanmar’s Bago Region at 10:36 a.m., the official said.

Pilot Arkar Win died in the crash, he added.

In June 2017, a military Y-8 transporter crashed into the Andaman Sea off the coast of southern Myanmar, killing all 122 people on board.
A military aircraft with 120 people onboard crashes into the Andaman Sea off the coast of Myanmar.