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Indonesia Plane With 62 On Board Suspected To Have Crashed Into Sea

Newsroom
Newsroom

01:10 9 Jan 2021


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A search and rescue operation is under way in Indonesia after a passenger plane is believed to have crashed into the sea.

The Boeing 737 had 62 people on board and is understood to have come down shortly after take-off from Jakarta.

An Indonesian Transport Ministry spokesman said the Sriwijaya Air flight SJ 182, which was travelling to Pontianak City in West Kalimantan province on the island of Borneo, last made contact at 2.40pm local time (7.40am in Ireland).

Tracking service Flightradar24 said on Twitter that the flight "lost more than 10,000ft of altitude in less than one minute" about four minutes after departure.

Some 56 passengers and six crew members were on board.

Suspected debris has been located in waters north of Jakarta, an official from the Basarnas rescue agency told Reuters, although it has not been confirmed that it is from the missing plane.

The Indonesian Navy has determined the plane's co-ordinates and ships have been deployed to the location, Navy official Abdul Rasyid said.

In its latest statement, the airline said it was still gathering information on the incident.

"Sriwijaya Air is still in contact with various related parties to get more detailed information regarding the SJ-182 flight from Jakarta to Pontianak," the company said.

"Management is still communicating and investigating this matter and will immediately issue an official statement after obtaining the actual information."

Indonesian Transportation Ministry spokesperson Adita Irawati said: "The missing plane is currently under investigation and under co-ordination with the National Search and Rescue Agency and the National Transportation Safety Committee."

A spokeswoman for Boeing said: "We are aware of media reports from Jakarta, and are closely monitoring the situation. We are working to gather more information."

The missing plane is not a Boeing 737 Max, the model involved in two major crashes in recent years - the first of which involved a crash in Indonesia.

The Lion Air 737 MAX, carrying 189 passengers and crew, crashed into the Java Sea just minutes after taking off from Jakarta in October 2018, killing everyone on board.

And in December 2014, an AirAsia flight from Surabaya to Singapore crashed into the sea, killing 162 people.

Reporting by IRN

This article was updated at 3.45pm

Main image: Indonesian soldiers stand near a crisis centre set up following a report that a Sriwijaya Air passenger jet has lost contact with air traffic controllers after take-off. Credit: AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana

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