Indonesia: debris found after Sriwijaya Air flight goes missing

Contact was lost with the Boeing 737-500 minutes after take-off from Jakarta

Indonesian Navy divers sift through debris during a search and resque operation near the suspected crash site of Sriwijaya Air flight SJ182 in the waters off Jakarta, near Tanjung Priok port. EPA

Navy sailors recover a piece of wreckage (bottom centre, in red) during recovery operations near Lancang Island. AFP

Retrieved wreckage from the ill-fated Sriwijaya Air Boeing 737-500 aircraft is seen during recovery operations near Lancang Island. AFP

Relatives of Sriwijaya Air plane passengers arrive at the crisis center in Soekarno-Hatta International Airport following the report that Sriwijaya Air plane flight SJ182 lost contact shortly after taking off, in Banten, Indonesia. EPA

A number of family members of Sriwijaya Air SJ 182 passengers using mobile phones take pictures of their relatives' names from notes attached on the window of an office as they wait news on their loved ones, at Pontianak Supadio International Airport, in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, Indonesia. EPA

National Transportation Safety Committee chairman Suryanto Cahyono (C) speaks to the media about Sriwijaya Air flight SJY182 at the Soekarno-Hatta international airport in Tangerang. AFP

A Navy sailor stands guard as the KRI Gilimanuk (531) warship prepare to leave for a search and rescue operation for the Sriwijaya Air flight SJY182 from the Tanjung Priok port in Jakarta. AFP

Navy sailors prepare the KRI Gilimanuk (531) warship to leave for a search and rescue operation for the Sriwijaya Air flight SJY182 from the Tanjung Priok port in Jakarta. AFP

Relatives of Sriwijaya Air plane passengers arrive at the crisis center in Soekarno-Hatta International Airport following the report that Sriwijaya Air plane flight SJ182 lost contact shortly after taking off, at Tanjung Priok Port in Jakarta, Indonesia. EPA

Indonesian Police divers check their gear before embarking on the search and rescue operation for Sriwijaya Air flight SJ 182, which lost contact with air controllers shortly after take-off in Jakarta, Indonesia. GETTY IMAGES

People are seen at a temporary crisis centre organised in the domestic terminal of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, after Sriwijaya Air plane flight SJ182 lost contact after taking off, in Tangerang, near Jakarta, Indonesia. REUTERS

A woman cries at the flight SJ 182 Crisis Center at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Cengkareng, near Jakarta, Indonesia. Sriwijaya Air flight SJ182, a 26-year-old Boeing Co. 737-500 with 62 people aboard, went missing after losing contact with Indonesia’s aviation authorities shortly after takeoff from Jakarta. Photographer: Bloomberg

Medics and officials at the flight SJ 182 Crisis Center at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Cengkareng, near Jakarta, Indonesia. BLOOMBERG

People are seen at a temporary crisis centre organised in the domestic terminal of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, after Sriwijaya Air plane flight SJ182 lost contact after taking off, in Tangerang, near Jakarta, Indonesia. REUTERS

Relatives of passengers on board missing Sriwijaya Air flight SJY182 wait for news at the Supadio airport in Pontianak on Indonesia's Borneo island, after contact with the aircraft was lost shortly after take-off from Jakarta. AFP

Airport staff set up a crisis centre for Sriwijaya Air flight SJY182 at the Soekarno-Hatta international airport in Tangerang near Jakarta. AFP

Indonesian military is seen at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. EPA

An aviation security officer uses a phone as he stands outside Sriwijaya Air customer service at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. Reuters

Airport officials install barriers at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport after Sriwijaya Air plane flight SJ182 with more than 50 people on board lost contact after taking off, according to local media, in Tangerang, near Jakarta. Reuters

An Indonesian soldier walks at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport after Sriwijaya Air plane flight SJ182 with more than 50 people on board lost contact after taking off, according to local media, in Tangerang, near Jakarta, Indonesia. Reuters

This radar image shows the flight path of Indonesian Sriwijaya Air Flight 182 before it dropped off radar. Flightradar24.com via AP

Officials are seen at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. EPA

Indonesian soldiers are seen at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport after Sriwijaya Air plane flight SJ182 with more than 50 people on board lost contact after taking off, according to local media, in Tangerang, near Jakarta, Indonesia. Reuters

This aerial shot taken from an Indonesian Air Force plane shows oil slick and debris floating on the water near the site where Sriwijaya Air passenger jet is thought to have crashed near Jakarta, Indonesia. AP Photo

Indonesian Navy divers show parts of an aircraft recovered from the water. AP Photo

Indonesian investigators examine body bags with human remains and debris from Sriwijaya Air flight SJ182 to be examined by investigators in Jakarta, Indonesia. Getty Images

Investigators inspect debris found in the waters off Java Island around where a Sriwijaya Air passenger jet crashed, at Tanjung Priok Port in Jakarta, Indonesia. Indonesian divers on Sunday located parts of the wreckage of the Boeing 737-500 in the Java Sea, a day after the aircraft with dozens of people onboard crashed shortly after takeoff from Jakarta. AP Photo

Indonesian rescue members carry what is believed to be the remains of the Sriwijaya flight SJ182 which crashed into the sea, at Jakarta International Container Terminal port in Jakarta, Indonesia. Reuters

President Director of Sriwijaya Air Jefferson Irwin Jauwena speaks to the media during a press conference at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Indonesia. AP Photo

A Sriwijaya Air plane is suspected of having crashed minutes after take-off from the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, on Saturday, the authorities said.

Tracking showed the path of Flight SJ182 ending off the coast slightly north of Jakarta after the plane abruptly lost altitude.

Rescuers are looking for the plane, which lost contact after taking off with more than 60 people on board, an official of the Basarnas search and rescue agency said.

It has not yet been confirmed that debris found in the sea came from the Sriwijaya flight.

The Indonesian navy said it had determined the co-ordinates of the downed jet.

A statement released by the budget airline said 56 passengers and six crew members were onboard the Boeing 737-500, which was on a 90-minute flight from Jakarta to Pontianak, the capital of West Kalimantan province on Borneo island.

The authorities started search and rescue operations for the plane after contact was lost at 2.40pm local time, transport ministry spokesman Adita Irawati said.

According to flight-tracking website FlightRadar24, the aircraft appeared to have plunged 3,000 metres in less than a minute, about four minutes after take-off.

Sriwijaya Air has about 19 Boeing jets, which fly to destinations in Indonesia and South-East Asia.

In October 2018, 189 people were killed when a Lion Air Boeing 737 MAX jet slammed into the Java Sea about 12 minutes after take-off from Jakarta on a routine one-hour flight.

Boeing was fined $2.5 billion after that crash and a subsequent fatal flight in Ethiopia over claims it defrauded regulators overseeing the 737 MAX model, which was grounded worldwide following the two deadly crashes.

This radar image shows the flight path of Indonesian Sriwijaya Air Flight SJ182 before it dropped off radar, Saturday, January 9, 2021. FlightRadar24.com via AP

But Indonesia’s aviation sector has long suffered from a reputation for poor safety, and its airlines were once banned from entering US and European airspace.

In 2014, an AirAsia plane crashed with the loss of 162 lives.

Domestic investigators’ final report showed a chronically faulty component in a rudder control system, poor maintenance and the pilots’ inadequate response were major factors in what was supposed to be a routine flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore.