An Indonesian aircraft has gone missing today, [January 9], shortly after taking off from the country’s capital city of Jakarta. It is believed that the aircraft had more than 50 passengers on board, according to the BBC.
The Sriwijaya Air Boeing 737-500 lost contact with airport officials shortly after it took off for Pontianak in the West Kalimantan province. According to Flight tracking website Flightradar24.com, the flight lost more than 3000 metres of altitude in less than one minute. This sudden loss in altitude took place four minutes after the flight initially took off.
Sriwijaya Air flight #SJ182 lost more than 10.000 feet of altitude in less than one minute, about 4 minutes after departure from Jakarta.https://t.co/fNZqlIR2dz pic.twitter.com/MAVfbj73YN
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) January 9, 2021
Surachman, a local government official told CNN Indonesia that local fishermen heard two explosions from the middle of the sea. Upon approaching the location of the explosions, they came across a number of objects floating in the ocean, including pieces of the fuselage.
‘Now there is evidence that there are pieces of planes and pieces of cable. Now there are three ships that are combing, and the cables have been found again. Basarnas is on its way, from the police as well,’ Surachman told CNN Indonesia.
The plane involved in the disappearance is a Boeing 737-500 ‘classic’, according to Flightradar24.com, and not a 737 Max, the Boeing model involved in two major crashes in recent years.
Search and rescue efforts were underway. This is a developing story.
Picture: Twitter/@teamaeronews
