An Indonesian passenger plane crashed near Jakarta on Monday on a short flight from Tangerang to Pankal Pinang.
Lion Air flight JT 610 went down just 13 minutes into its flight, crashing into the sea with 189 people on board. Rescue workers have recovered the bodies of six people who were onboard.
In addition to the six bodies recovered, search teams have found what they believe to be the aircraft's tail. A team of 250 rescuers have spent the day searching in the Java Sea using boats, helicopters and underwater robots. However, the main site of the wreck has yet to be located.
According to CNN, the flight requested to return to the airport at Tangerang minutes after taking off. The air traffic controllers lost contact with the plane before it could turn back, however.
Lion Air's CEO Edward Sirait told TV1 that the crew had reported issues with the plane the night before. Sirait said that the problem had been fixed and that engineers said the plane was ready to fly. The plane itself was brand new, with only 800 hours of flight time. The Boeing 737 Max 8 was purchased by Lion Air in August.
The head of the Indonesian search-and-rescue agency BASARNAS said that his agency is working around the clock to find the aircraft.
"We are all out, we are exerting all our efforts to find where the aircraft is located," Brigadier General Bambang Suryoaji said in a press release.
The plane had several government officials on board, with the Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani reporting that there were 20 ministry officials returning to Pangkal Pinang on the flight. The two pilots of the plane had more than 11,000 flight hours between them. As of this posting, there is no known cause for the crash.
