Passenger plane missing after take-off in Indonesia
Passenger plane with more than 50 people on board goes missing after take-off in Indonesia
The Sriwijaya Air Boeing 737 lost contact en route to Pontianak in West Kalimantan province, officials said.
Flight tracking website Flightradar24.com said the aircraft had lost more than 3,000m (10,000ft) in altitude in less than a minute.
The transport ministry said search and rescue efforts were under way.
Sriwijaya Air, a local carrier, said it was still gathering information about the flight.
The plane is not a 737 Max, the Boeing model involved in two major crashes in recent years.
The first of those, in October 2018, involved an Indonesian Lion Air flight which plunged into the sea killing 189 people.
Indonesia passenger plane missing after take-off - BBC News
JET PLUNGE
Boeing 737 passenger plane vanishes over sea after ‘falling 10,000ft’ after takeoff from Indonesia
A PASSENGER plane has vanished after "falling 10,000ft" moments after taking off, it has been reported.
The Boeing 737 reportedly crashed four minutes after takeoff from Jakarta in Indonesia today.
Sriwijaya Air flight SJ182 fell 10,000ft in less than a minute and plunged into the Java Sea, reports say.
Flightradar24 tweeted: "We are following reports of a missing Boeing 737-500 in Indonesia.
"We hope to have more information soon."
One social media user responded to the site's data, saying: "That's freefall."
A picture has emerged showing what appears to be debris floating in the ocean north of Jakarta.
The plane was an en route to Pontianak, also in Indonesia, when the reported crash happened.
The incident has chilling echoes of flight MH370 which vanished in 2014 minutes after taking off from Kuala Lumpur.
Around 39 minutes into its journey, the jet lost contact with Malaysia Airlines and crashed at an unknown location killing all 239 people on board.
Boeing 737 passenger plane vanishes over sea after '''falling 10,000ft''' after takeoff from Indonesia