*Indonesia’s Transport Minister says 62 on aboard, including 12 crew
*The airline has a solid safety record until crash, he says
Feelers from Jakarta, Indonesian capital, have it that a Boeing 737-500 jetliner with 62 people on board has crashed.
The Indonesian search vessels have been sent to scour the ocean north of nation’s capital following the disappearance of the flight shortly after takeoff on Saturday 9 January 2021.
The Sriwijaya Air flight SJ182, which left Soekarno-Hatta International Airport near Jakarta with 50 passengers and 12 crew members, was bound for Pontianak in West Kalimantan, a journey expected to take 90 minutes, according to Arab News.
Transport Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said that the jetliner took off at 2.36 p.m. Jakarta time and was cleared to climb to 29,000 ft, but lost contact with Jakarta airport’s air traffic control four minutes later after turning in the wrong direction.
Flight radar data showed the aircraft climbed to 11,000 ft before suddenly dropping to 250 ft.
“Air traffic control asked the plane to report its position, but within seconds it disappeared from the radar,” Sumadi said.
Sriwijaya Air confirmed that the aircraft is missing.
Authorities say that the 26-year-old jetliner might have crashed between Laki Island and Lancang Island in the Java Sea.
Shortly after the incident a local fisherman reported seeing possible debris and items of torn clothing at the location.
Footage of suspected wreckage was also broadcast on Indonesian TV.
National Search and Rescue Agency Director Bambang Suryo Aji told a press conference that ships were being sent from Jakarta to the suspected crash site.
“We will start searching early tomorrow at the location where the plane is believed to have crashed. We have poor visibility now,” Aji said.
