Indonesia's search and rescue agency said that all 189 passenger and crew aboard a crashed Indonesian jet were "likely" killed in the accident. On Monday a Lion Air passenger flight from Jakarta, the capital, to the city of Pangkal Pinang off the island of Sumatra, had crashed into the sea. "It has been confirmed that it has crashed," Yusuf Latif, a spokesman for the agency, said by text message, when asked about the fate of the Lion Air plane. It was not immediately clear how many were on board.
Lion Air Flight JT610 took off around 6:20 am and was due to have landed in the capital of the Bangka-Belitung tin mining hub at 7:20 am, the flight tracking service showed. The plane, a Boeing 737 Max 8 model, lost contact with the air-traffic controller at 6:33 am, 13 minutes after taking off, the airport authorities said.
Here are the updates on the Lion Air plane crash:
My thoughts are with the families and friends of those who lost their lives in the plane crash in Indonesia. May Almighty give them strength and courage in this hour of grief: PM @narendramodi
- PMO India (@PMOIndia) October 29, 2018
How Jakarta's Notorious Traffic Saved Man From Doomed Lion Air FlightAn Indonesian man has described how Jakarta's notorious traffic inadvertently saved his life on Monday after he arrived too late to catch the doomed Lion Air plane which plunged into the sea minutes after taking off.
Indonesian Plane With 189 On Board Had Asked To Return To BaseAn Indonesian aircraft with 189 people on board crashed into the sea on Monday as it tried to circle back to the capital, Jakarta, from where it had taken off minutes earlier, and there were likely no survivors, officials said.
Our deepest condolences on the tragic loss of lives in the Lion Air Plane crash, off the coast of Jakarta today. Most unfortunate that Indian Pilot Bhavye Suneja who was flying JT610 also lost his life...Embassy is in touch with Crisis Center and coordinating for all assistance. pic.twitter.com/56lbxGSoJe
- India in Indonesia (@IndianEmbJkt) October 29, 2018
The pilot of an Indonesian plane that crashed into the sea minutes after taking off from Jakarta was an Indian national. Bhavye Suneja, 31, was a Delhi resident. He joined the Indonesian carrier, Lion Air, seven years ago.
The aircraft was commanded by Captain Suneja and co-pilot Harvino with six cabin crew members. The 31-year-old captain has 6,000 flight hours and the co-pilot more than 5,000 flight hours, the airline said in a statement.
The Indonesian Lion Air plane had a technical problem on a previous flight, but it had been resolved according to procedure, the company's chief executive said.
"This plane previously flew from Denpasar to Cengkareng (Jakarta). There was a report of a technical issue which had been resolved according to procedure," Edward Sirait told reporters, declining to specify the nature of the technical issue.
He said Lion has operated 11 aircraft of the same model, the Boeing 737 Max 8, and the other planes did not have the same technical problem. Sirait said there was no plan to ground the rest of its Boeing 737 Max 8 fleet.
"We don't know yet whether there are any survivors," agency head Muhmmad Syaugi said at a news conference, adding that no distress signal had been received from the aircraft's emergency transmitter. "We hope, we pray, but we cannot confirm."
He said that items such as hand phones and life vests were found in waters about 30 metres to 35 metres deep near where the plane, identified by air tracking service Flightradar 24 as a Boeing 737 MAX 8, lost contact.
"We are there already, our vessels, our helicopter is hovering above the waters, to assist," Syaugi said. "We are trying to dive down to find the wreck."
Wreckage had been found near where the plane lost contact with air traffic officials on the ground, said Muhmmad Syaugi, head of the search and rescue agency.
An official of Indonesia's safety transport committee has said he could not confirm the cause of the crash, which would have to wait until the recovery of the plane's black boxes, as the cockpit voice recorder and data flight recorder are known.
"We will collect all data from the control tower," said Soerjanto Tjahjono. "The plane is so modern, it transmits data from the plane and that we will review too. But the most important is the blackbox."
"The aircraft was carrying 178 adult passengers, one child and two babies, with two pilots and five flight attendants."
