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Lost contact Indonesian plane Boeing 737-500 goes missing after take off from Jakarta

The Boeing 737-500 operated by Sriwijaya Air took off from Jakarta with 56 passengers and six crew members onboard.

Relatives of passengers arrive at a crisis centre (AP) Expand

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Relatives of passengers arrive at a crisis centre (AP)

Relatives of passengers arrive at a crisis centre (AP)

Relatives of passengers arrive at a crisis centre (AP)

By Associated Press Reporters

A passenger jet carrying 62 people has lost contact with air traffic controllers after taking off from Indonesia’s capital on a domestic flight, officials said.

Indonesian Transportation Ministry spokesperson Adita Irawati said the Boeing 737-500 operated by Sriwijaya Air took off from Jakarta at about 1.56pm and lost contact with the control tower at 2.40pm.

“The missing plane is currently under investigation and under co-ordination with the National Search and Rescue Agency and the National Transportation Safety Committee,” Irawati said in a statement.

A statement released by the airline said the plane was on an estimated 90-minute flight from Jakarta to Pontianak, the capital of West Kalimantan province on Indonesia’s Borneo island.

There were 56 passengers and six crew members onboard.

A plane flying from Jakarta to Pontianak would spend most of the flight over the Java Sea. There was still no sign of the missing plane as night fell.

Indonesia, the world’s largest archipelago nation, with more than 260 million people, has been plagued by transportation accidents on land, sea and air because of overcrowding on ferries, ageing infrastructure and poorly enforced safety standards.

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