Lion Air plane crashes after takeoff from Jakarta, 188 were on board
Monday, October 29, 2018 IST
The flight, JT610, lost contact with air traffic controllers Monday a mere 13 minutes after taking off.
HIGHLIGHTS
*Confirmed that plane has crashed: Search and rescue agency
*Boat leaving Jakarta port saw plane falling: Agency
*Flight was headed for Pangkal Pinang, also in Indonesia
A Lion Air flight which took off Monday from Jakarta, Indonesia's capital, has crashed into the sea. As many as 188 passengers and crew were on board, the Associated Press reported.
There's no word on casualties yet.
The flight, JT610, lost contact with air traffic controllers Monday a mere 13 minutes after taking off, the Straits Times reported.
"It has been confirmed that it has crashed," Yusuf Latif, a spokesman for Indonesia's search and rescue agency, said.
Latif said a tug boat leaving the Jakarta's port saw the plane falling.
Debris thought to be from the plane was found near an offshore refining facility, an official from the state energy firm Pertamina said.
Wreckage was found near where the Lion Air plane lost contact with air traffic officials on the ground, said Muhmmad Syaugi, the head of Indonesia's search and rescue agency.
The flight was headed for Pangkal Pinang, also in Indonesia. The plane is a Boeing 737 MAX 8, according to FlightRadar24, an air tracking service.
Lion Air is Indonesia's largest private airline.
"We cannot give any comment at this moment," said Edward Sirait, chief executive of Lion Air Group. "We are trying to collect all the information and data." Boeing said it was monitoring the situation.
Inputs from Reuters
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said in the headline that contact was lost after 12 minutes. It was lost after 13 minutes.
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