The plane that crashed into the waters off Indonesia’s capital was the most recent model in Boeing Co.’s storied 737 family, the company’s best-selling plane and a workhorse for the growing ranks of budget airlines. Lion Air took delivery of that 737 Max in August, and according to Indonesia’s National Transportation Safety Committee, had clocked 800 hours of flight time before Monday’s accident. An order backlog of over 4,000 for the 737 Max family shows the popularity of the latest version of the single-aisle jet with airlines. The model, which the Chicago-based plane maker says offers better fuel savings, range and reliability over earlier versions, has gained customers in Asia where several dozen low-cost carriers have emerged over the last decade. Currently, four versions of the Max family are being offered. Read: Lion Air plane that crashed vanished from radar 13 minutes after taking off The Max family can seat as many as 230 passengers and fly as far as 6,110 kilometers, according to Boeing’s website. The planes use the LEAP-1B engines from CFM International, a joint venture of General Electric Co. and Safran SA. Among the model’s biggest customers in the region are Lion Air, India’s SpiceJet Ltd. and China Southern Airlines Co. Boeing’s 737 planes have had 208 hull losses since 1970, according to the Aviation Safety Network database maintained by the Flight Safety Foundation. The aircraft competes with Airbus SE’s A320neo family of jets in the narrow-body segment. The first Max plane was delivered to Lion Air’s unit Malindo Airways in May 2017. While the cause of the crash isn’t clear, Boeing said in a statement Monday that it is ready to provide technical assistance to the crash investigators. Lion Air, the carrier that lost the plane with 189 people on board, was among Indonesian airlines that were on the European Union’s list of banned operators from 2007 through 2016, according to the database. (With assistance from Julie Johnsson)<doc-sep>The mystery of what caused Lion Air flight 610 to crash into the Java Sea on Monday is still unfolding, but Boeing investors seem to have shaken off concerns that the tragedy signals broader issues for the aerospace giant. Shares of Boeing have almost completely rebounded after dropping nearly 7% shortly after the news broke. The stock price hit a high of $363.40 today, which is about where it was before the crash. Lion Air’s brand-new Boeing 737 MAX 8 went down just 13 minutes after it took off from Jakarta, and the pilots had reportedly requested clearance to return to the airport, although they did not mention any kind of emergency, per CNN. However, flight data and eyewitnesses reported that the same aircraft was behaving erratically on an earlier flight. In a statement, the company offered its “heartfelt sympathies” to the victims and their loved ones, and said it was providing technical assistance at the direction of government authorities investigating the incident. All 189 people on board the plane are presumed to have perished.<doc-sep>The search and rescue agency said it expects no survivors from the crash and bodies of most victims were probably trapped inside the fuselage of the plane in the seabed. Rescuers have so far been able to recover only body parts, debris of the plane and some belongings of passengers, the agency’s Operations Deputy Bambang Suryo Aji told reporters in Jakarta. The search is focused on a 124 nautical miles area in the Java Sea, he said.<doc-sep>Editor's Note: Searchers have been at the scene and investigators are looking into the fatal crash. Read the latest updates here. Monday's earlier story appears below. JAKARTA, Indonesia — A Lion Air flight with 189 people on board crashed into the sea moments after taking off from Indonesia's capital early Monday. The airliner said it had lost contact with Flight JT-610 and Indonesia's search and rescue agency posted images of debris it has found from the Boeing 737 Max 8 plane that went down in the waters off West Java. There was no immediate word of any survivors and the aircraft is believed to have sunk after it crashed. "It has been confirmed that it has crashed," Yusuf Latif, a spokesman for the agency, said by text message, when asked about the fate of the Lion Air plane, according to the Reuters news agency. Latif said the plane had lost contact 13 minutes after takeoff. The aircraft had requested to return to base shortly before losing contact, according to Yohanes Sirait, a spokesman for Indonesia's air navigation authorities. "The (traffic) control allowed that, but then it lost contact," he added. The crash is the worst airline disaster in Indonesia since an AirAsia flight plunged into the sea in December 2014, killing all 162 on board. It's the latest blow to the country's aviation safety record after the lifting of bans on its airlines by the European Union and U.S. The plane had departed Jakarta about 6:20 a.m. Monday, BBC News reports. Indonesia's disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said the plane was scheduled for a 1-hour-and-10 minute flight to Pangkal Pinang on an island chain off Sumatra. The National Search and Rescue Agency chief Muhammad Syaugi told a news conference that divers are trying to locate the wreckage of the plane, which according to aviation website Flightradar24 was brand-new and delivered to Lion Air in August. Officials said the plane had been carrying 178 adults, one child and two babies, as well as two pilots and six flight attendants. Next of kin have gathered at Pangkal Pinang airport, CBS News has learned, where a crisis center has been setup there and also at Jakarta's Soekarno Hatta airport. Relatives of passengers of Lion Air flight JT-610 that crashed into the sea, cry at Depati Amir airport in Pangkal Pinang, Indonesia, on Mon., Oct. 29, 2018. Reuters BBC News flagged a tweet from the head of Indonesia's disaster agency that apparently shows parts of the plane and personal belongings from the flight, including a crushed smartphone, books and bags. Beberapa serpihan pesawat Lion Air JT 610 yang jatuh di perairan Karawang. Pesawat membawa 178 penumpang dewasa, 1 penumpang anak-anak dan 2 bayi dengan 2 Pilot dan 5 FA. Basarnas dan Kementerian Perhubungan terus melakukan penanganan. Beberapa kapal tug boad berada di lokasi. pic.twitter.com/Gb6P4zjCQF — Sutopo Purwo Nugroho (@Sutopo_PN) October 29, 2018 The Associated Press reports the Jakarta Search and Rescue Office cites the crew of a tug boat reporting a Lion Air flight falling from the sky. It said several vessels have headed to the location. Local television coverage broadcast images of a fuel slick and debris field. The National Search and Rescue Agency said the flight ended in waters off West Java that are 98 to 115 feet deep. Divers have been dispatched to the scene. Serpihan pesawat Lion Air JT 610 yang jatuh di perairan Karawang. Beberapa kapal tug boad membantu menangani evakuasi. Video diambil petugas tug boad yang ada di perairan Karawang. pic.twitter.com/4GhKcRYkpG — Sutopo Purwo Nugroho (@Sutopo_PN) October 29, 2018 Flight tracking website Flightradar24 tweeted "preliminary data show an increase in speed and decrease in altitude at last transmission." They posted an image of the flight track, showing JT-610 looping south on takeoff and then heading north before the flight path ended abruptly over the Java Sea, not far from the coast. The plane reportedly reached an altitude of only 5,200 feet. We're following reports that contact has been lost with Lion Air flight #JT610 shortly after takeoff from Jakarta. ADS-B data from the flight is available at https://t.co/zNM33cM0na pic.twitter.com/NIU7iuCcFu — Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) October 29, 2018 BBC News said the Boeing 737 Max 8 is meant for short-haul travel and features a single-aisle that can fit a maximum of 210 passengers. The plane serving Flight JT-610 was configured to seat 189 passengers, aviation consultant Gerry Soejatman told BBC News. A Lion Air Boeing 737-800 seen April 8, 2016. Getty Lion Air is Indonesia's largest low-cost carrier, operating flights domestically as well as a number of international routes in South East Asia, Australia and the Middle East, BBC News reports. In 2013, one of its Boeing 737-800 jets missed the runway while landing on the resort island of Bali, crashing into the sea without causing any fatalities among the 108 people on board. Indonesian airlines were barred in 2007 from flying to Europe because of safety concerns, though several were allowed to resume services in the following decade. The ban was completely lifted in June this year. The U.S. lifted a decadelong ban in 2016. Selvanaban Mariappen and Peter Martinez contributed to this report.<doc-sep>
It was a major tragedy for Indonesia when a Lion Air Boeing 737 Flight JT 610 with 189 people onboard crashed into the sea. It was on its way to Pangkal Pinang in the Bangka Belitung Islands. The Boeing was a new single aisle aircraft meant for short-haul Travel, and one of the latest built in 2018 to enter service in August. Obviously, the crash of a new aircraft is a matter of concern. The composition of people onboard was 178 adults, one infant and two babies apart from the two pilots and a number of cabin crew members. The BBC reports that Lion Air is the largest low-cost carrier of Indonesia. The aircraft involved is a Boeing 737 Max, which is an updated version of the 737. It is in use since 2016 and the ill-fated aircraft entered service recently. Rescuers rushed to the spot and retrieved several items floating in the water but there is no sign of any survivor. Anxious family members have gathered at Jakarta's Airport waiting for news of their beloved ones. Scenes of horror and destruction following a passenger plane crash over Indonesia, with more than 188 people feared dead https://t.co/UQ0OrVNdc7 — Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) October 29, 2018 The pilot reported some technical problems It seems the pilot of the Lion Air Boeing 737 Flight JT 610 wanted to return to Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta airport. The head of Pangkal Pinang’s search and rescue office has revealed this. Edward Sirait, the chief executive of the airline, admitted that the there was some unspecified "technical issue" on a previous flight and added that it was resolved. Incidentally, Lion Air has a fleet of 11 Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft and there is no report of a similar incident earlier, hence there will be no grounding of the fleet. Edward Sirait has confirmed this. Both the pilot and co-pilot had cumulative flying hours of more than 11,000 between them and were experienced to handle such flights. Efforts are on to locate the black box In case of any aircraft crash, investigators concentrate on locating the black box that contains a wide range of data that are useful to conduct post mortems. Experts analyze these to establish the probable reason for the crash. According to The Telegraph UK, an official of Indonesia's safety transport committee has said that the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder of Lion Air Boeing 737 Flight JT 610 can throw light on the cause of the crash. The black box preserves these data. Rescue teams have retrieved aircraft parts like seats from near an offshore refining facility. The aircraft crashed in waters off West Java that are around 100 feet deep. Indonesia consists of innumerable islands connected by air, and The Flightradar website had tracked the flight path of Flight JT 610, which will help the investigation.