A plane has been reported missing shortly after takeoff in Indonesia.
Sriwijaya Air flight SJ182 had departed from Jakarta to Pontianak in Indonesia around 7.40am UK time, however, contact was lost with the plane just minutes after takeoff.
Sixty-two people are believed to have been on board the aircraft.
The plane is said to have lost more than 10,000 feet of altitude in less than one minute, around four minutes after departure from Jakarta.
A search and rescue operation is now underway.
Sriwijaya Air flight #SJ182 lost more than 10.000 feet of altitude in less than one minute, about 4 minutes after departure from Jakarta.https://t.co/fNZqlIR2dz pic.twitter.com/MAVfbj73YN
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) January 9, 2021
Transportation Ministry spokesperson Adita Irawati said the Boeing 737-500 operated by Sriwijaya Air took off from Jakarta at about 1.56pm local time on Saturday and lost contact with the control tower at 2.40pm.
A statement released by the airline said the plane was on an estimated 90-minute flight from Jakarta to Pontianak, the capital of West Kalimantan province on Indonesia’s Borneo island. There were 56 passengers and six crew members on board.
Irawati said a search and rescue operation was under way in co-ordination with the National Search and Rescue Agency and the National Transportation Safety Committee.
Flight tracking service FlightRadar24 reported the plane as missing after signal was lost around 7.40UTC.
The plane is described as a Boeing 737-500 “classic” with registration number PK-CLC (MSN 27323).
Tracking data on the plane shows its last known location as just south of Lancang Island.
FlightRadar24 say the first recorded flight of the aircraft was recorded in May 1994.
Local media reports said fishermen spotted metal objects believed to be parts of a plane on Saturday afternoon in the Thousand Islands chain north of Jakarta.
Television footage showed relatives and friends of people aboard the plane weeping, praying and hugging each other as they waited at Jakarta and Pontianak airports.
Indonesia, the world’s largest archipelago nation, with more than 260 million people, has been plagued by transport accidents on land, sea and air because of overcrowding on ferries, ageing infrastructure and poorly enforced safety standards.
In October 2018, a Boeing 737 Max 8 jet operated by Lion Air plunged into the Java Sea minutes after taking off from Jakarta, killing all 189 people on board.
It was the worst airline disaster in Indonesia since 1997, when 234 people were killed on a Garuda flight near Medan on Sumatra island.
In December 2014, an AirAsia flight from Surabaya to Singapore plunged into the sea, killing 162 people.
Sriwijaya Air is one of Indonesia’s discount carriers, flying to dozens of domestic and international destinations.