Myanmar finds missing plane, bodies following crash

Bodies and aircraft debris were found in the sea off the southern coast of Myanmar on Thursday by a navy ship searching for a military plane which went missing with 122 soldiers, family members and crew on board.

Three bodies, including two adults and a child, were found some 35 km from the southern coastal town of Launglon, the military said in a statement on its official Facebook page.

Nine navy ships and three air force planes had been dispatched to search for the aircraft, which disappeared on Wednesday as it flew from the southern city of Myeik to Yangon.

More than half of the passengers were from military families, including 15 children, along with 35 soldiers and 14 crew members, the army chief's office said in a statement.

"Some were on their way for medical checkups and to attend school," a spokesman from the military's information team said.

A plane wheel, two life jackets and some bags with clothes - believed to be from the missing Chinese-made Y-8-200F transport plane - were also found, the statement said, adding the military search will continue.

The plane lost contact 29 minutes after takeoff while flying at 5,485 metres over the Andaman Sea, about 70 km west of the town of Dawei, the military said.

It is monsoon season in Myanmar, but a civil aviation official said the weather had been "normal" with good visibility when the plane took off.

The aircraft was bought in March 2016 and had a total of 809 flying hours. It was carrying 2.4 tons of supplies, the military said.

Aircraft incidents, both civilian and military, are not uncommon in the Southeast Asian country. A military helicopter crashed last June in central Myanmar, killing three military personnel on board.

Five military personnel were killed last February after an air force aircraft crashed in the country's capital, Naypyitaw, according to media reports.

Two people were killed and 11 injured after a small plane crashed in central Myanmar in 2012.