A Boeing 737 passenger plane of Indonesia's Sriwijaya Air that went missing on Saturday is 'suspected' to have crashed as per Indonesia's transport minister.
Indonesia's Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said Sriwijaya Air’s Flight SJ182 was delayed for an hour before it took off at 2:36 p.m from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in the Indonesian capital. Minister also said that the Boeing 737 disappeared from radar four minutes later, after the pilot contacted air traffic control to ascend to an altitude of 29,000 feet (8,839 meters).
Sriwijaya Air’s Flight took off with 62 people including the crew onboard. This included 10 children. As per the Transportation Ministry, the last contact with the plane was made at 0740 GMT on Saturday.
In a statement, the airline said that the plane was on an estimated 90-minute flight from Jakarta to Pontianak, the capital of West Kalimantan province on Indonesia’s Borneo island. The plane was carrying 50 passengers and 12 crew members, all Indonesian nationals, including six extra crew for another trip. Sriwijaya Air CEO Jefferson Irwin Jauwena has also told reporters that the plane was in good condition.
The Indonesia National Search and Rescue Agency’s deputy head of operations and preparedness, has said that rescuers have collected plane debris and clothes that were found by fishermen. Fishermen had found debris near islands just off the coast of the capital Jakarta, but it could not be immediately confirmed as having belonged to the missing jet. The items have now been handed over to the National Transportation Safety Committee for further investigation to determine whether they were from the missing plane.
As per flight tracking website Flightradar24, the aircraft lost more than 3000 meters in less than a minute soon after its takeoff from the airport in Jakarta.
Sriwijaya Air is a budget airline, which has about 19 Boeing jets that fly to destinations in Indonesia and Southeast Asia.
Indonesia's Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said Sriwijaya Air’s Flight SJ182 was delayed for an hour before it took off at 2:36 p.m from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in the Indonesian capital. Minister also said that the Boeing 737 disappeared from radar four minutes later, after the pilot contacted air traffic control to ascend to an altitude of 29,000 feet (8,839 meters).
Sriwijaya Air’s Flight took off with 62 people including the crew onboard. This included 10 children. As per the Transportation Ministry, the last contact with the plane was made at 0740 GMT on Saturday.
In a statement, the airline said that the plane was on an estimated 90-minute flight from Jakarta to Pontianak, the capital of West Kalimantan province on Indonesia’s Borneo island. The plane was carrying 50 passengers and 12 crew members, all Indonesian nationals, including six extra crew for another trip. Sriwijaya Air CEO Jefferson Irwin Jauwena has also told reporters that the plane was in good condition.
The Indonesia National Search and Rescue Agency’s deputy head of operations and preparedness, has said that rescuers have collected plane debris and clothes that were found by fishermen. Fishermen had found debris near islands just off the coast of the capital Jakarta, but it could not be immediately confirmed as having belonged to the missing jet. The items have now been handed over to the National Transportation Safety Committee for further investigation to determine whether they were from the missing plane.
As per flight tracking website Flightradar24, the aircraft lost more than 3000 meters in less than a minute soon after its takeoff from the airport in Jakarta.
Sriwijaya Air is a budget airline, which has about 19 Boeing jets that fly to destinations in Indonesia and Southeast Asia.
