A Lion Air Boeing 737 passenger plane with 188 people on board has crashed into the sea shortly after taking off from the Indonesian capital, Jakarta.
Flight JT 610 was on a scheduled flight to Pangkal Pinang, the main town in the Bangka Belitung Islands.
BBC reported that the flight lost contact with ground control a few minutes after take-off, and was last tracked crossing the sea – it is unclear if there are any survivors.
The plane was a Boeing 737 MAX 8, a brand new type of aircraft.
“The plane crashed into water about 30 to 40m deep,” Search and Rescue Agency spokesman Yusuf Latif told AFP news agency. “We’re still searching for the remains of the plane.”
At a news conference, officials said the plane had been carrying 178 adults, one infant and two babies, as well as two pilots and five cabin crew. However, there are conflicting reports on the exact number of people on board.
Flight JT 610 took off from Jakarta at 06:20 local time on Monday morning (23:30 GMT on Sunday).
It was due to arrive at Depati Amir airport in Pangkal Pinang an hour later but about 13 minutes into the flight, authorities lost contact with the plane.
The pilot had asked to return to Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta airport, the head of Pangkal Pinang’s search and rescue office, Danang Priandoko, told local news outlet Kompas.
The head of Indonesia’s disaster agency, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, has tweeted images which he said showed debris and personal belongings that came from the aircraft and had been found floating in the sea.
The aircraft was reported to be a Boeing 737 MAX 8, a model only in commercial use since 2016.
Lion Air said the aircraft involved in the crash was made in 2018 and has only been operated by the airline since 15 August this year.
Meant for short-haul travel, the single-aisle plane can fit a maximum of 210 passengers.
Indonesia, a vast archipelago, is heavily reliant on air travel, but many of its airlines have a poor safety record.
Lion Air is Indonesia’s largest low-cost carrier, operating flights domestically as well as a number of international routes in South East Asia, Australia and the Middle East.
