A Boeing Co passenger plane carrying 62 people crashed into the Java Sea on Saturday, Indonesian authorities said.
The Sriwijaya Air jet lost contact with air traffic controllers and disappeared from the radar minutes after taking off from the country’s capital, Jakarta, transport ministry officials said. It was on a 90-minute route from Jakarta to Pontianak, the capital of Western Kalimantan province on the Indonesian island of Borneo, and went missing at 2.40pm local time, a ministry spokesman said. Adita Irawati, said.
The plane in question was a 26-year-old Boeing 737-500, according to Theodora Erika, a spokeswoman for Sriwijaya Air, which is an Indonesian airline. Sriwijaya flight SJ182 departs at 14:36 local time, climbs to a maximum altitude of 10,900 feet about four minutes later and then begins a steep descent, according to airline Flightradar24. The plane’s last data signal was at an altitude of 250 feet, Flightradar24 said.
Boeing said in a statement on Saturday that it was aware of Jakarta’s reports and was keeping a close eye on the situation. CFM International, which manufactured the aircraft’s engines, said it was providing technical assistance to authorities and the airline. CFM is a joint venture between General Electric Co and Safran SA.
The Boeing aircraft is not the 737 MAX, the latest version of the company’s single-jet jet family, which was on the ground almost two years ago after two fatal accidents.