Lion Air crash: Indonesian Aircraft goes down after Jakarta take-off

A Lion Air Boeing 737 passenger plane has come down from Jakarta, say Indonesian officials.

Flight JT-610 was on the Indonesian capital to Pangkal Pinang, the main city in the Bangka Belitung Islands.

It was a few minutes after take-off, as it was crossing the sea.

Boeing 737 MAX 8 Boeing 737 MAX 8.

Yusuf Latif, spokesperson for the national search and rescue agency told reporters: "It has been confirmed that it has crashed."

Airline Chief Executive Edward Saited told Reuters: "We can not give any comment at this time."

Indonesian media quoted a port official at Tanjung Priok as saying a tugboat had reported sight debris in the water.

Suyadi, who uses only one of the many Indonesians, said other vessels were making their way to the site.

Flight JT-610 took off from Jakarta at 06:20 local time on Monday morning (23:30 GMT on Sunday). Pangkal Pinang an hour later.

The aircraft was reported to be a Boeing 737 MAX 8, a model only in use since 2016. Flight tracking website Flightradar24 said the aircraft had been delivered to Lion Air in August.

Aviation consultant Gerry Soejatman told the BBC the MAX 8 had been experiencing problems while it was introduced, including problems maintaining a flight level.

Indonesia, a vast archipelago, is heavily relied on, but many of its airlines have a poor safety record.

Lion Air is a budget airline based in the country. In 2013, Lion Air flight 904 crashed into the sea on Bali's landing at Ngurah Rai International Airport. All 108 people on board survived. In 2004, Lion Air flight 538 from Jakarta crashed and broke up on Solo City, killing 25 people.