JAKARTA: A small aircraft with 18 people on board crashed on Thursday in Indonesia's Sumatra island, officials said.

The Casa 212, carrying 15 passengers and three crew, left Medan city in North Sumatra at 7:18 am bound for the nearby province of Aceh, before losing contact with air traffic control, transport ministry aviation head Herry Bakti told AFP.

“The plane crashed sometime between 7:28 and 8:05 this morning around Bohorok Mountain, which is about 36 nautical miles northwest of Medan,” Bakti said.

The plane had left Medan in the north of Sumatra bound for Aceh on the island's northernmost tip.

A search and rescue team has been dispatched to the site.