Lion Air Flight JT-160 has crashed into the sea with nearly 190 people on board, shortly after taking off from the Indonesian capital, Jakarta.
All people on board the brand new Indonesian Boeing 737 MAX 8 plane, which crashed in the sea on Monday, have “likely” died.
The packed Lion Air flight JT 610 lost contact with ground control 13 minutes after takeoff in Jakarta.
Debris from the aircraft as well as passengers’ personal belongings were located floating in the Java Sea, as a massive rescue team was deployed to the crash site.
The Boeing airplane involved in Monday’s accident has only been in operation since 15 August. The world’s most sold passenger jet had logged only 800 hours of flight time, according to the head of the National Transportation Safety Commission.
The pilot is reported to have radioed air traffic control in Jakarta asking for permission to turn back, shortly after taking off.
Lion Air’s chief executive said the flight had suffered from an unspecified “technical problem” in a previous flight, but that it had been “resolved according to procedure”.
BBC / ABC Flash Point Aviation News 2018.
Outrageous?
Production flaw?