Contact was lost with a Boeing 737-500 W airplane — which operated as Sriwijaya Air flight 182 — as it disappeared from radar approximately four minutes after its departure from Jakarta on its way to Pontianak within Indonesia at 2:40 in the morning Eastern Standard Time.
Contact Lost With Sriwijaya Air Boeing 737-500 Aircraft; Possible Crash Feared
The following media statement was posted at the official Twitter site of Sriwijaya Air, which roughly translates in English as:
We confirm that the SJ-182 flight from Jakarta to Pontianak has lost contact as of today 9 January 2021 at 14:40 Western Indonesia Time.
Our aircraft is manned by 6 active crew. The details of the passengers on flight SJ-182 are 40 adults, 7 children, 3 babies and 6 crew members as passengers.
Our prayers go out to all our passengers and crew and their families.
Until now, we continue to coordinate with the relevant authorities and provide all necessary support.
For families and relatives, you can contact the following hotline numbers: 021-8063 7816 and 021-8063 7816
The airplane reportedly lost greater than 10,000 feet of altitude in less than one minute.
A search and rescue operation is currently underway for the total of 62 people who were aboard the airplane at the time of its disappearance.
Sriwijaya Air is an airline which is based in Indonesia and was founded in 2003; and operation of the airline began on Monday, November 10 of that same year. With the exception of Dili in Timor Leste, all destinations are domestic routes which are served by Sriwijaya Air with 18 Boeing 737 aircraft.
Summary
After 2020 — which many people consider to be quite a bad year — the year 2021 certainly has not started off well with a possible airplane crash.
My thoughts and prayers go to the people who were aboard the airplane — as well as to their families, friends, and colleagues.
If any additional information is available pertaining to this incident, I intend to provide an update.
Source: Sriwijaya Air.
