Indonesia Plane Carrying 62 Crashes Into Sea After Takeoff

A passenger plane carrying 62 people crashed into the Java Sea shortly after take-off from Indonesia’s capital Jakarta on Saturday.

The Boeing 737-500 disappeared from radars four minutes into its journey to Pontianak in West Kalimantan province, reports the New York Times.

It is thought to have dropped more than 3,000m (10,000ft) within a minute, the report said.

According to the witnesses, they had seen and heard at least one explosion, BBC reports.

The last contact with the plane, Sriwijaya Air Flight 182, was at 2:40 p.m. local time, said Indonesia’s Transportation Ministry, the New York Times reports.

The plane was bound for the city of Pontianak on the island of Borneo, according to the Transportation Ministry. 

Flightradar24, the flight-tracking service, said that four minutes after taking off amid a heavy monsoon season rain the plane lost more than 10,000 feet in altitude in less than 60 seconds.