Indonesian plane crashes into the sea with more than 180 people on board


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A Lion Air passenger plane that took off Monday from Jakarta, Indonesia's largest city, heading to a nearby island crashed into the sea shortly after takeoff with 189 people on board in clear skies, launching a grim mission to find waters.

Rescuers began pulling out of the depths of the sea, including parts of the aircraft's fuselage, ID cards and bags belonging to the passengers on board. People at an offshore refining facility of the aircraft, including plane seats, in the water. Officials say they have no confirmation that anyone has survived.

"We are waiting for a miracle of God," said Nugroho Budi Wiryanto, deputy operations chief at the national search-and-rescue agency. At least 300 rescuers have been deployed from the agency, he said, and are still searching for the main body of the plane.

JT-610 Air Lion JT-610 air jordan, 11 minutes after takeoff, abercrombie france, official said, adding that people are falling down. The air traffic websites FlightAware and Flightradar24 showed the plane climbing erratically, barely reaching above 5,000 feet, before quickly dropping and disappearing from radar.

Among those on board were two pilots, six flight attendants and two babies. Twenty employees from Indonesia's Ministry of Finance were also on board.

Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesperson for Indonesia's national disaster agency, shared a video on Twitter of rescuers on tugboats looking for debris off the coast of Karawang, an area in West Java close to Jakarta. He also shared pics of mangled cellphones and torn bag that rescuers recovered. Rescuers will also find debris and remains in the sea, which has a depth of about 114 feet.

The aircraft, at Boeing 737 Max 8, was purchased this year by Air Lion, Southeast Asia's second-largest low-cost airline. The plane is one of Boeing's newest, and had flown several hundred hours since 15. It is located at Pangkal Pinang, the largest city on the nearby Indonesian island of Bangka.

Boeing said that it had received confirmation that the Indonesian Ministry of Transportation had located the wreckage of the flight.

"The Boeing Company is deeply saddened by the loss of Flight JT 610." We are expressing our concern for those on board, and extending heartfelt sympathies to their families and loved ones, "a company statement read. "Boeing stands ready to provide technical assistance to the accident investigation."

A crisis center has been set up at Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport and the Depati Amir Airport in Pangkal Pinangfor families of passengers and crew members on the plane, said Pramintohadi Soekarno, the acting director general of civil aviation.

The flight was commanded by Capt. Bhavye Suneja, who had more than 6,000 flight hours, and his co-pilot, who had more than 5,000 hours, officials said.

Indonesian officials and experts say the exact cause of the crash, especially from the plane's black box, is retrieved. An estimated location of the black box has been identified, and various are searching for it. A statement from Indonesia 's Transport Ministry said contact. Skies were clear and there were no abnormalities in the weather.

Aircraft Makers and Aircraft Makers have long priced Indonesia as one of the fastest growing aviation markets, with a rising middle-class. Indonesia is a large archipelago of islands. Domestic passenger traffic has tripled over the past 12 years to 97 million in 2017.

But the country has not yet been selected from the European Union's air safety list and is estimated to be safe. Air Lion was allowed to fly in the US air space in 2016.

Lion Air, established in 1999, is Indonesia's largest budget airline. It has been involved in a number of incidents in recent years, but none with fatalities. One of its jets collided with a plane of another carrier, Wings Air, on the island of Sumatra last year but no one was injured. In 2013, a Lion Air flight crashed into the sea after landing on the island of Bali. Several were injured, but no one was killed.

In 2004, a Lion Air plane skids off the runway in heavy rains when it landed in the city of Solo, killing 31.

Timothy McLaughlin in Hong Kong contributed to reporting. Mahtani reported from Hong Kong. Rohmah reported from Jakarta.

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