Sriwijaya air craft confirmed crashed - Indonesian Transport Minister

JAKARTA:A Sriwijaya Air jetliner which lost contact after taking off from Jakarta was confirmed to have crashed into the waters of Thousand Islands, Jakarta.

Indonesian Transport Minister, Budi Karya Sumadi in a media broadcast via webinar tonight said the aircraft was believed to have plunged into the sea around Pulau Laki and Pulau Lancang, in the waters of Thousand Islands.

"The President (Indonesian President Joko Widodo) has ordered us to maximise search efforts," said Budi Karya.

Meanwhile, National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS) Operation and Preparedness deputy, Bambang Suryo Aji said the search focus now was to detect the coordinates of the jetliner's crash.

"We hope to find the location point of the plane crash tonight before search and rescue efforts resume tomorrow morning," said Bambang Suryo Aji.

The Boeing 737-500 air craft which was carrying 62 passengers and crew members was reported to have lost contact after taking off at 2.36 pm Western Indonesia time.

The last contact with the control tower was at 2.40 pm Eastern Indonesia time.

The flight was scheduled to arrive at Pontianak at 3.15 pm Eastern Indonesia (4.15 pm Western Indonesia).-- BERNAMA