YANGON - An aircraft of the Myanmar air force with 104 passengers aboard went missing Wednesday afternoon, another follow-up release of the Office of the Commander-in-chief of the Defense Services confirmed.

The 104 passengers include 90 army family members and 14 crew members. The aircraft was on its flight from southern Tanintharyi region's Myeik to Yangon, said the release.

With a load of 2.4 tons of welfare goods, the aircraft took off from Myeik air base at 0106 p.m. local time for Yangon. But when the aircraft reached a height of 18,000 feet (5,400 meters) at about 0135 p.m.local time, it lost contact with the ground at a location 32 km west of Dawei and went missing.

The aircraft was on a round trip transport mission in accordance with the route Yangon-Myeik-Botepyinn-Myeik-Yangon.

Two aircrafts of the air force and four vessels of the navy have begun search and rescue operation since 2 pm local time on the day in the area where the aircraft went missing, the release said.