Lion Air plane carrying at least 188 people crashes after taking off from Jakarta: official

Men in helmets and safety clothing on a boat look at items on the deck.

A Lion Air plane carrying at least 188 people has crashed into the ocean after taking off from Jakarta, according to Indonesia's search and rescue agency.

External Link: A tweet reportedly showing wreckage from the downed plane

Search and rescue authorities have found debris, including life jackets and body parts, in the sea off the north coast of Java.

Divers are in the water looking for more bodies. There are no reports of survivors.

Tweets from a civil servant who works at the Indonesian National Board for Disaster Management appeared to show an oil slick on the water from the crash, and debris retrieved from the sea.

Yusuf Latif, a spokesman for Lion Air said the pilot reported technical difficulties shortly after take-off, and the plane lost contact 13 minutes afterwards.

He said a tug boat crew leaving the capital's port had seen the craft falling.

External Link: A tweet reportedly shows energy rig workers sorting through wreckage from Lion Air plane

It is understood the plane went down about 11 nautical miles from the coast, in waters about 30 metres deep.

The jet was a Boeing 737 MAX 8, according to air tracking service Flightradar 24.

Flight JT610 took off around 6:20am and was due to have landed in the capital of the Bangka-Belitung tin mining hub at 7:20am, the tracking service showed.

"We cannot give any comment at this moment," said Edward Sirait, chief executive of Lion Air Group.

"We are trying to collect all the information and data."

Lion Air is one of Indonesia's youngest and biggest airlines, flying to dozens of domestic and international destinations.

In 2013, one of its Boeing 737-800 jets missed the runway while landing on the resort island of Bali, crashing into the sea without causing any fatalities among the 108 people on board.

This accident is the first to be reported that involves the popular Boeing 737 MAX, an updated, more fuel-efficient version of the manufacturer's workhorse single-aisle jet.

The first Boeing 737 MAX jets were introduced into service in 2017.

Lion Air's Malaysian subsidiary, Malindo Air, received the very first global delivery.

ABC/wires

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