An Indonesian search and rescue agency official estimated there would be no survivors from the Lion Air plane that crashed into the sea north of Java Island on Monday.
An Indonesian search and rescue agency official estimated there would be no survivors from the Lion Air plane that crashed into the sea north of Java Island on Monday.
"We need to find the main wreckage," Bambang Suryo, operational director of the agency, told reporters. "I predict there are no survivors, based on body parts found so far."
The plane, with 189 people on board, lost contact 13 minutes after take-off from Jakarta.
Rescue workers are trying to find the main body of the plane after finding debris and aircraft parts floating on the surface of the Java Sea.
Lion Air flight JT610, an almost new Boeing 737 MAX 8, was en route to Pangkal Pinang, capital of the Bangka-Belitung tin mining region. Rescue officials said they had recovered some human remains from the crash site, about 15 km (9 miles) off the coast.
Indonesia is one of the world's fastest-growing aviation markets, but its safety record is patchy. If all aboard have died, the crash will be the country's second-worst air disaster since 1997, industry experts said.
The pilot had asked to return to base (RTB) after the plane took off from Jakarta. It lost contact with ground staff after 13 minutes.
Delhi resident Bhavye Suneja was Captain of Indonesia's Lion Air that crashed into sea
"It's correct that an RTB was requested and had been approved but we're still trying to figure out the reason," Soerjanto Tjahjono, head of Indonesia's transport safety committee, told reporters, referring to the pilot's request.
"We hope the black box is not far from the main wreckage so it can be found soon," he said, referring to the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder.
Search and rescue agency head Muhmmad Syaugi told a news conference earlier that no distress signal had been received from the aircraft's emergency transmitter.
At least 23 government officials, four employees of state tin miner PT Timah and three employees of a Timah subsidiary, were on the plane. A Lion Air official said one Italian passenger and one Indian pilot were on board.
The plane went down in waters about 30 metres to 35 metres (98 to 115 ft) deep. Items such as handphones and life vests were found, along with the body parts.
Ambulances were lined up at Karawang, on the coast east of Jakarta, and police were preparing rubber dinghies, a Reuters reporter said. Fishing boats were being used to help search.
Edward Sirait, chief executive of Lion Air Group, told reporters the aircraft had had a technical problem on a flight from the resort island of Bali to Jakarta but it had been "resolved according to procedure".
Sirait declined to specify the nature of the issue but said none of its other aircraft of that model had the same problem. Lion had operated 11 Boeing 737 MAX 8s and it had no plan to ground the rest of them, he said.
The accident is the first to be reported involving the widely sold Boeing 737 MAX, an updated, more fuel-efficient version of the manufacturer's workhorse single-aisle jet.
Privately owned Lion Air said the aircraft had been in operation since August, was airworthy, with its pilot and co-pilot together having accumulated 11,000 hours of flying time.
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