A jet aircraft carrying two University students went missing Monday over Indonesia after encountering stormy weather and sending out two distress signals. As searchers continued to look for the plane Wednesday, no sign of the flight crew or the passengers have yet surfaced.
University students Stephanie Jackson, 21, and Lindsey Jackson, 18, sisters from Bend, were visiting their father, 54-year-old Scott Jackson, a wood-products company executive who lives part time in Indonesia, Brazil and Oregon. The AdamAir flight was on a two-hour trip from the main island of Java to Manado, a city in nearby Sulawesi.
A report early Tuesday erroneously stated that the Boeing 737-400 carrying 96 passengers and six crew members had crashed in a remote mountain range in the island of Sulawesi, killing at least 90. The report was denied by Indonesian air traffic coordinators less than 12 hours later.
Felice Jackson DuBois, mother of the two girls and ex-wife of Scott Jackson, is still awaiting word on the fate of the jetliner that an Indonesian officials said was believed to have crashed into the sea.
“Search efforts have expanded, they’re more sophisticated … but they haven’t discovered anything as far as they’ve told me,” DuBois of Bend, told The Associated Press. “It’s still a zero at this point.”
The Jackson sisters and their father were believed to be the only Americans aboard the flight operated by the Indonesia-based airline.
“Like everyone else, the University community is awaiting news of their situation,” University spokesman Phil Weiler said. “Our hearts go out the girls’ family and friends in this time of uncertainty.”
Stephanie D. Jackson enrolled at the University in 2003, Weiler said, working toward a double major in human physiology and anthropology. Lindsey E. Jackson, a freshman in the University’s Clark Honors College, first enrolled last fall.
DuBois described her daughters as adventurers who have lived and traveled overseas since they were young.
“Any time I hear that they’re going on an airplane, yes, I’m scared,” DuBois told The Oregonian newspaper. “But you can’t live your life guided by your fears. You just want to hold out hope.”
DuBois said her daughters sent her an e-mail that said “Happy New Year” shortly before takeoff. There is a 15-hour time difference between Java, Indonesia, and Eugene, Java being 15 hours ahead.
The Associated Press contributed to this report