Indonesian Passenger Plane Crashes with 188 Aboard
An Indonesian “Lion Air” airline plane crashed shortly after takeoff in waters surrounding the islands of Java and Sumatra. The aircraft was flying from Jakarta to Pangkal Pinang. There is little hope for the survival of approximately 190 passengers on the plane.
The Lion Air Boeing 737 with approximately 190 passengers took off from Jakarta airport at 6:20 a.m. local time on Monday (midnight Central European Time) bound for Pangkal Pinang on the island of Sumatra and disappeared from radar screens just 13 minutes after takeoff, crashing into the waters between the islands of Java and Sumatra.
Rescue teams have found wreckage from the aircraft at a distance of 70 kilometers from Jakarta. According to a spokesman for the rescue forces, they have found life jackets, passengers’ mobile phones, and parts of the aircraft’s fuselage.
It is believed that the aircraft sank to a depth of 35 meters in the sea.
Among the approximately 190 passengers on the plane were two infants, one child, two pilots, and five crew members.
Investigations into the cause of the crash are still ongoing. The crashed aircraft was brand new. According to experts, the Boeing 737 MAX 8 model has been in airline service since 2016.
The low-cost airline “Lion Air” was founded in 1999 and operates modern Boeing and Airbus aircraft.
