The passenger plane was reported to have crashed into the sea while flying from Jakarta to the city of Pangkal Pinang.
HONG KONG — A plane flying carrying 189 people over Indonesia crashed into the sea on Monday, officials said.
Lion Air Flight JT-610 had been flying north from the capital, Jakarta, to the city of Pangkal Pinang on the island of Bangka when it went missing, The Associated Press reported.
The search and rescue agency said a tugboat saw the plane crash in Karawang Bay northeast of Jakarta, officials said. Slamet Waluyo, the Karawang police chief, confirmed to the Indonesian news channel Metro TV that the plane had crashed.
A search and rescue effort was underway for the plane, a Boeing 737-800 that departed Jakarta at about 6:20 a.m., according to The A. P. Officials said the plane was carrying a total of 189 passengers and crew members. There was no immediate word on casualties.
The aviation website Flight Tracker said the flight took off at 6:21 a.m. and was scheduled to arrive at 7:20 a.m.
Edward Sirait, chief executive of Lion Air, a budget Indonesian airline, said Monday morning that he could not yet comment on the accident, according to Reuters. “We are trying to collect all the information and data,” he said.
Indonesia has a troubling air safety record, and several of its airlines have been barred over the years from flying in Europe and the United States.
