Lion Air flight JT610 from Jakarta to Sumatra crashes with 189 aboard

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Oct. 29, 2018 / 2:56 AM GMT / Updated 3:34 AM GMT

By Alex Johnson

A brand new Lion Air Boeing 737 carrying 189 passengers and crew crashed into the sea off Indonesia shortly after takeoff from Jakarta early Monday, authorities said.

There was no immediate confirmation of casualties.

The national news agency, Antara, said Flight JT610 was reported missing 13 minutes after it took off at 6:20 a.m. (7:20 p.m. ET Sunday) for Pangkal Pinang, the capital of the Sumatran island of Bangka-Belitung.

Image: INDONESIA-ACCIDENT-AVIATION — Family members of passengers aboard a crashed Indonesian Lion Air jet mourn at Pangkal Pinang airport, in Bangka Belitung province, on Monday local time.Hadi Sutrisno / AFP - Getty Images

"It has been confirmed that the plane crashed in Tanjung Kerawang waters" in West Java Province, Erzaldi Rosman Djohan, the governor of Bangka Belitung, said at a news conference.

Passing ships reported finding personal items and debris in the water.

Antara said the plane was carrying 189 people — 178 adult passengers, three infants, six crew members and two pilots. Authorities initially said 188 people had been on board.

Before authorities lost contact with the Boeing 737 MAX 8, it requested permission to return to Jakarta for what Antara described only as "a problem."

The plane, PK-LQP, was delivered to the airline in August.

Fast growing Lion Air is one of the fastest low cost carriers on the planet. Like many Indonesian airlines, it has struggled with its safety record, suffering a major crash and multiple runway excursions, overruns. #JT610
— Jon Ostrower (@jonostrower) October 29, 2018

A spokeswoman for CFM International, the manufacturer of the plane's two LEAP-1B engines, confirmed to NBC News that the company had been notified that the plane was missing. She said the company had no further information.

The Boeing Co. said in a statement that it's ready to provide technical assistance to the accident investigation.

"The Boeing Company is deeply saddened by the loss of Flight JT 610," the statement reads. "We express our concern for those on board, and extend heartfelt sympathies to their families and loved ones."

Lion Air Group said it had no immediate comment.

Indonesian Navy are involved in the search for debris. "We are sending a number of warships and navy personnel," Navy spokesman Colonel M Zaenal said, according to Antara. "To detect the presence of objects in the water, we mobilized a dive team from the First Fleet Command and Naval Base III."

Alex Johnson

Alex Johnson is a senior writer for NBC News covering general news, with an emphasis on explanatory journalism, data analysis, technology and religion. He is based in Los Angeles.

Ryan Ruggiero, Jay Blackman and Alastair Jamieson contributed.

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