A flight tracking service has recorded the moment an Indonesian passenger plane carrying 11 people lost contact with air traffic control on Saturday. The incident has prompted a search and rescue operation across a remote area of the archipelago nation.
The Sriwijaya Air flight, bound for Pontianak in West Kalimantan, lost contact with Jakarta’s air traffic control just four minutes after takeoff from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in the capital. The Boeing 737-500 aircraft was travelling at an altitude of 10,900 feet when it disappeared from radar screens.
Indonesia’s Transportation Ministry has confirmed that the plane, with registration number PK-CLC, lost contact at 2:40pm local time, roughly 20 kilometres north of the airport. No distress signal was issued by the pilots prior to the loss of contact.
A spokesperson for Sriwijaya Air, one of Indonesia’s budget carriers, said the airline is “co-operating with the relevant authorities” and is “doing everything possible to locate the missing plane.” The aircraft was carrying 6 crew members and 5 passengers, including 3 children.
Search and rescue teams from the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) have been dispatched to the suspected crash site in the Java Sea, just off the coast of Jakarta. Navy ships and helicopters have also joined the effort, scouring the area for any signs of the missing plane or its occupants.
Indonesia’s aviation authorities have opened an investigation into the incident, but the cause of the disappearance remains unknown. Weather conditions in the area at the time were reportedly fair, with light winds and good visibility.
The lost aircraft is a 26-year-old Boeing 737-500, an older model of the 737 series. Sriwijaya Air has operated the plane since 2012 and it underwent maintenance in December 2020, according to the airline.
This is the latest aviation incident to strike Indonesia, which has a chequered air safety record. In 2018, a Lion Air Boeing 737 MAX crashed into the Java Sea, killing all 189 people on board. Two years later, a Sriwijaya Air flight crashed into the sea shortly after takeoff from Jakarta, resulting in 62 fatalities.
As the search for the missing plane continues, Indonesia’s transport authorities have pledged a full investigation to determine the cause of this latest aviation tragedy.