Perth businessman Peter Elliott.
Grave fears are held for four people including an Australian man after the light plane they were on disappeared on the island of Borneo in Indonesia.
The Australian has been confirmed as Peter Elliott, the founder and general manager of Perth survey company Elliott Geophysics International that has its headquarters in Jakarta.
The plane, which had been chartered by Elliott Geophysics International, left Samarinda, the provincial capital of East Kalimantan province on the eastern side of Borneo, on Friday morning for a 90-minute flight to survey a coalmining site.
The Australian embassy in Jakarta was providing consular assistance to Dr Elliott's family. It is believed Dr Elliott and his wife had recently had a new baby son.
A woman believed to be Dr Elliott's daughter wrote on her Facebook page that her father's plane may have been found.
Amelia Edwina Robinson Elliott posted shortly before 7.30am via mobile phone: "The search and rescue think they've spotted the plane by sattelite [sic] image and are sending men in but it's difficult terrain. Fingers crossed."
But Gagah Prakoso, a spokesman for the Indonesian search and rescue agency, Basarnas, said there was no sign yet of the missing plane.
Two search and rescue teams had been looking since about 2pm yesterday. Mr Gagah said the plane had been carrying four passengers -- the pilot Marshal Basyir, surveyor Dr Elliot, co-surveyor Muhammad Rizal and the supervisor from the Air Force, Captain Suyoto.
"They were flying low because it's a survey plane," he said.
Dr Elliott, a graduate of the University of Melbourne, had lived in Jakarta since the 1990s. He had 29 years experience in mining geophysics.
The aircraft was owned by Indonesian air company PT Intan Angkasa. In January last year one of the companys' helicopters crashed, seriously injuring its three occupants.
Asked about the area on the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo where the plane crashed, Mr Gagah said: "I haven't got any report of the weather. But in the thick forest areas of Kalimantan the weather keeps changing from clear to cloudy. It's pretty safe for big commercial plane not for small planes," he said.
An Indonesia-based friend, Greg Parham, said Dr Elliott would "be sadly missed" among the expatriate community, if the worst fears for him came true.
"He’s been around for a long time and a he’s a good guy. He [is] highly respected professionally and in himself too. A typical Aussie bloke."
Mr Parham said his friend had been active in the Bintangs AFL football team based in Jakarta since it was established in the mid 1990s.
However, he had moved to Perth in recent years for quality of life reasons, particularly since he and his wife had recently had a new baby son.
"He thought it’d be safer, nicer environment, and try to spend more time at home," Mr Parham said.
"And then this comes along. It’s pretty sad. It affects a lot of us."
with AAP and and Goya Dmytryshchak
