An Indonesian airliner crashes – and over 60 people are missing

The plane, which was en route to Pontianak in Borneo, disappeared from radar screens shortly after taking off from Jakarta airport at 14.40 local time, at 08.40 Swedish time.

The Indonesian authorities said 56 passengers, including ten children, and six crew members were on board the plane.

Two Indonesian fishermen News site Compass That they saw when the plane crashed. They must have heard two explosions. It must have rained heavily in the area at the time.

The cause of the accident was not known yet.

He fell 3000 meters in one minute

According to flight path service Flightradar24, the plane fell just over 3,000 meters in less than a minute about 4 minutes after taking off from Jakarta.

It won’t descend that fast if you still have some form of control over the plane, says Jan Olson, aviation expert and editor of Travel insider e-magazine to SVT Nyheter.

– You didn’t say anything to air traffic control. It’s normal when something very urgent happens. Then the pilot focuses on saving the plane, not talking.

The Boeing B737-500 is a 27-year-old aircraft belonging to the Indonesian airline Sriwijaya Air. According to the company’s CEO, the plane should be in good condition upon takeoff, according to Reuters.

The 27-year-old is not really that great. There are 40-year-old planes that are still flying. It’s all about maintenance. But we know that aviation safety in Indonesia is falling short at the same time that air traffic is massive, says Jan Olson.

Suspected debris in the water

Fishermen are said to have found what appears to be the wreckage of the lost plane in the sea north of Jakarta, and the Indonesian authorities have launched a search operation at the accident site.

A representative of the local authorities said to CNN Indonesia: “We found cables and pieces of metal and jeans in the water.”

In October 2018, 189 people died when a Boeing 737 Max belonging to the Indonesian airline Leon Air crashed into Lake Java about 12 minutes after taking off from Jakarta.

According to the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there is currently no information that there are two Swedes on board.

The remains of those said to be passengers have now been found at the place in Indonesia where the plane is believed to have crashed.