An Indonesian Lion Air jet carrying 188 passengers and crew has crashed into the Java Sea with all passengers feared dead.
The Boeing 737 MAX 8, which took off from Jakarta to Belitung, is thought to have plunged to the seabed after disappearing from radar only 13 minutes after take-off.
A large amount of floating debris, including passengers’ personal items, was collected by search and research crew scouring the area off the West Java coast.
Erzaldi Rosman Djohan, governor of Bangka Belitung, told reporters: "It has been confirmed that the plane crashed in Tanjung Kerawang waters in West Java."
It is the first major accident for a Boeing MAX jet.
The aircraft was brand new and had only been in service for just over two months.
Yohanes Sirait, spokesman for Indonesia’s air navigation agency said the pilot requested a return to Jakarta after experiencing an unspecified ‘technical problem’ and then immediately lost contact with air traffic control.
Lion Air has a huge fleet of short haul aircraft and is one of the fasting growing airlines in Asia.
The Lion Air Group operates Batik Air and Wings Air as well as a major stake in Malaysia based Malindo Air.
It has a relatively poor safety record with more than a dozen accidents in the past 15 years, including a crash landing in Solo, Java in 2004, which killed 31.
