Indonesian Boeing 737 with 59 passengers reported on board went missing within minutes of takeoff
Boeing 737 #Boeing737
A passenger plane departing from Jakarta, Indonesia, on Saturday has lost contact within four minutes of taking off, according to the flight tracker website FlightRadar24.
The Indonesian Sriwijaya Air flight #SJ182 was reportedly carrying more than 50 passengers and six crew members. No official numbers have been confirmed yet.
The 27-year-old plane was a Boeing 737-500, which is not the same as the controversial Boeing 737 Max model involved in two major crashes in recent years.
Search and rescue operations are currently underway.
Pictures and videos of what seemed to be aircraft debris have appeared on social media, but there is no confirmation they belong to the Boeing 737 aircraft.
Several residents of a nearby island told the BBC they had found objects they thought were from the plane.
The Sriwijaya Air flight had been flying to Pontianak in Borneo, around 740km from Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta Airport.
It lost more than 10,000ft of altitude in under a minute, with signal lost at 2.37 p.m local time.
Sriwijaya Air said in a statement it was still gathering more detailed information about the flight.
“A Sriwijaya (Air) plane from Jakarta to Pontianak (on Borneo island) with call sign SJY182 has lost contact,” said Adita Irawati, a transport ministry spokesman, according to the Guardian.
Sriwijaya Air is Indonesia’s third-largest airline, listed as a “Category 1” airline, which is the country’s highest safety rating.
In October 2018, an Indonesian Lion Air flight plunged into the sea about 12 minutes after take-off from Jakarta, killing 189 people.
This is a breaking news story and more information will be added as it becomes available.