A Sriwijaya Air Boeing 737-500 disappeared from the radar shortly after take-off from Jakarta airport on Saturday. The plane had taken off for a domestic flight to Pontianak, Kalimantan. According to ADS-B data, the aircraft descended no less than 10,000 feet within a minute.

A spokesman for the Indonesian Ministry of Transport has confirmed the missing Boeing 737 to the Indonesian news agency Antara. The Sriwijaya Air plane had 56 passengers and 6 crew members, which made the plane about half full.

Flight SJ182 disappeared from the radar just four minutes after departure from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. The Boeing appears to have plunged into the sea in an area called the Thousand Islands. The airline has not yet published a statement.

The crashed aircraft is registered PK-CLC. It was delivered to Continental Airlines in 1994, flew for United Airlines from 2010, and entered service with Sriwijaya Air in 2012.

Sriwijaya Air is a private company that has existed since 2003. The current fleet consists of fourteen Boeing 737s, including four of the -500 series. That is the oldest type in the fleet. The fleet also consists of newer aircraft such as Boeing 737-800s and 737-900ERs. In the US, two leased Boeing 737 MAX 9s are also waiting for delivery.

Wreckage, clothing and body parts have been found in the sea near Laki Island. This is reported by the government on the Thousand Islands according to the Indonesian news agency Antara. Cabling, among other things, was fished out of the sea by civilians and police officers.

Not much is known about the crash itself. Fishermen in the area reported that they suddenly heard and saw an explosion. "We thought it was a bomb or a tsunami," says one. Wreckage and traces of oil were later found nearby.

The search for bodies is complicated by poor visibility, Antara News reports. The military is deploying helicopters and a Boeing 737 patrol plane.

In the meantime authorities in Indonesia have found the location of the flight data and voice recorder of the crashed Boeing 737-500. "We have located the position of both black boxes," said Soerjanto Tjahjanto, head of the National Transportation Safety Commission.

--- DB4 - Dec.21 2020
* Origin: AVIATION ECHO HQ (2:292/854)