An official says a small plane carrying two people has been reported missing in Indonesia's easternmost province of Papua.

Transportation Ministry spokesman Bambang S. Ervan says the PAC-750 aircraft lost contact Wednesday while on a flight between two villages in the remote district of Yahukimo. He says signals have been detected from the plane's emergency transmitters.

A rescue team has been sent to search for the missing aircraft, which was carrying a pilot and one passenger.

Air travel is an important means of transportation in the jungle-clad mountains of Papua, the country's most remote region geographically and politically.