A Boeing 737 passenger jet with 62 people onboard disappeared over the sea in Jakarta, Indonesia yesterday, moments after take-off from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.
Media reports said the plane plummeted 3,048 metres (10,000 feet) shortly after take-off from Jakarta, reports claim.
The Sriwijaya Air plane reportedly lost contact with the control room four minutes after take-off, plunging over 3,000 metres in less than 60 seconds.
On board the 26-year-old plane were 56 passengers including seven children.
It had two pilots and four cabin crew.
Rescuers immediately took to the sea to possibly save lives but ended up finding debris suspected to be of the plane in the waters.
The ill-fated plane is an older model than the Boeing 737 MAX jet involved in two earlier fatal crashes – including the Indonesian Lion Air crash in 2018, which killed 189.
Indonesia’s transport ministry said: “A Sriwijaya (Air) plane from Jakarta to Pontianak (on Borneo Island) with call sign SJY182 had lost contact.
“It last made contact at 2:40 pm (0740 GMT).”
The budget airline said only it was investigating the incident.
Indonesia’s search and rescue agency and the National Transportation Safety Commission were also investigating, Irawati said.
