WORLD NEWS

Indonesia's Sriwijaya Air plane loses contact after taking off from Jakarta

The plane dropped 10,000 feet in less than a minute before disappearing from the radar, according to the global flight tracking service Flightradar24

Relatives of passengers on board the missing plane wait for news at Supadio airport in Pontianak. CNN

H. J. I. / CNN

Indonesia's Sriwijaya Air lost contact with a plane that left Jakarta on Saturday, according to Indonesia's Head Of National Transportation Safety Committee, Suryanto Cahyono.

Sriwijaya Air flight SJY 182 from Jakarta to Pontianak lost contact at 2:40 p.m. Western Indonesian Time (2:40 a.m. ET) on Saturday, according to state-run Antara news agency.

In a statement, Sriwijaya Air said that they were "in contact with various related parties to get more detailed information" regarding the incident and that they will "immediately issue an official statement" when more information was clear.

Flight SJY 182 lost contact 11 nautical miles north of Jakarta's Soekarno--Hatta International Airport at an altitude of 11,000 feet while climbing to 13,000 feet, Antara reported.

The plane dropped 10,000 feet in less than a minute before disappearing from the radar, according to the global flight tracking service Flightradar24. The drop happened about four minutes after takeoff, it said.

A Flightradar24 map shows the moment Sriwijaya Air flight SJY 182 lost contact on Saturday. Printscreen / CNN

Indonesia's search and rescue agency, Basarnas, has sent a ship to the Thousands Islands -- a chain of islands to the north of Jakarta's coast -- to check the location where the plane is suspected to have lost contact, Cahyono said.

The Transport Ministry said it is investigating and coordinating with Basarnas and the National Committee for Transport Safety.

The plane, registered PK CLC, is a Boeing 737-500. The aircraft is 26 years old, according to Flightradar24.

A Boeing spokesperson told CNN in a statement that they are "aware of media reports from Jakarta, and are closely monitoring the situation."

"We are working to gather more information," they said.