Monday’s disaster was a blow to the country’s aviation safety record after the lifting of bans on its airlines by the European Union and U.S. (AP) Monday’s disaster was a blow to the country’s aviation safety record after the lifting of bans on its airlines by the European Union and U.S. (AP) Lion Air, the airline whose plane crashed early Monday while traveling from Jakarta to an island off Indonesia’s Sumatra with 189 people on board, is a fast-growing low-cost airline with a mixed safety record. The privately-owned carrier was founded in 1999 to provide access to air travel to everyone. It offers dozens of flights a day both internationally and within the archipelago’s more than 17,000 islands. The biggest airline in the country in terms of passenger numbers and one of the largest low-cost carriers after Malaysia-based AirAsia, it mostly flies Boeing 737s. LIVE UPDATES | Lion Air carrier had technical glitch during last flight Before Monday’s crash the airline had not reported a fatal accident since 2004, when 25 people died when the DC-9 they were on crashed amid heavy rain at Solo City in central Java. Monday’s disaster was a blow to the country’s aviation safety record after the lifting of bans on its airlines by the European Union and U.S. READ | Bhavye Suneja had asked us to get ready for a party in Delhi: Friends of Indian pilot killed in Lion Air flight crash The European Union barred Indonesian airlines from flying to Europe in 2007 due to safety concerns. Lion Air was allowed to resume flights to Europe as of June 2016, and the ban on all other Indonesian airlines was lifted earlier this year. The US lifted a decade-long ban in 2016. Last month, two Lion Air-owned aircraft had a wingtip strike while they were on the tarmac at Jakarta’s airport. An investigation attributed the incident to a rushed departure. In April, a Lion Air Boeing 737-800 overran the runway at Gorontalo Airport on the island of Sulawesi. READ | India’s Bhavye Suneja was flying the Lion Air flight that crashed into Indonesian seas Afterward, investigators and the airline issued instructions on improving safety awareness and procedures. No one was reported injured in either of those incidents, according to reports on the website Aviation Safety Network. Lion Air announced early this year that it was among three major Indonesian airlines, including Garuda Indonesia and Batik Air, that were upgraded to the highest level of safety rating after Indonesia passed a key international audit under the International Civil Aviation Organization’s Universal Safety Oversight Audit Program. Lion Air has been expanding bullishly in Southeast Asia, a fast-growing region of more than 600 million people. Earlier this year it confirmed a deal to buy 50 new Boeing narrow-body aircraft worth an estimated $6.24 billion. In a record transaction, Lion Air signed a deal to buy 230 Boeing jets for $21.7 billion during a visit by then-President Barack Obama in November 2011. ALSO READ | Lion Air was rated seven stars, upgraded to top safety tier in June The carrier was founded by Indonesian-Chinese brothers Rusdi and Kusnan Kirana, who pooled money to set up a travel agency and then began their airline with one leased aircraft. Rusdi Kirana, chief executive officer of the airline, was named Indonesia’s ambassador to Malaysia in 2017 after serving as an advisor to Indonesian President Joko Widodo. The carrier operates with regional partners Thai Lion Air, Malindo Air, Wings Air, Batik Air and Lion Bizjet. It also has a freight business, Lion Parcel.<doc-sep>' No survivors are expected' after a passenger plane crashed into the sea minutes after taking off from Indonesia's capital. Lion Air flight JT610 plunged into the sea after losing contact with ground officials 13 minutes after take-off. An official told reporters: "I predict there are no survivors, based on body parts found so far." The pilot of the plane had requested to return to the airport shortly before it plunged into the sea. Merdiana Harahap (right) who is waiting for news of her husband is consoled / AFP/Getty Images Indonesia's president Joko Widodo has ordered the National Commission for Transport Safety to investigate the crash. A tug boat saw the jet fall into the sea shortly after it departed Jakarta at 6.20am (11.20pm Sunday, UK time). An oil slick has been spotted close to where the jet plunged into the sea / AFP/Getty Images The waters where the jet went down are up to 100 feet deep. Agency head Muhammad Syaugi told a news conference that no distress signals had been received from the jet. There were two foreign passengers among those onboard including the pilot originally from New Delhi and an Italian citizen. Images posted by the country’s disaster agency online show a crushed smartphone, books, bags, headphones and parts of the aircraft’s fuselage that had been collected by search and rescue vessels. Lion Air crash in Indonesia 1 /41 Lion Air crash in Indonesia Recovered personal items of passengers on board the ill-fated Lion Air flight JT 610 are laid out at the search and rescue operations centre AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Indonesian Navy Seals dive during the recovery mission for the crashed Lion Air flight EPA EPA EPA Indonesia's President Joko Widodo holds a personal item from Lion Air flight Getty Images Indonesia's President Joko Widodo (C), inspects recovered debris and personal items from Lion Air flight Getty Images Getty Images Search and Rescue personnel examine recovered debris Getty Images EPA AP Indonesian search and rescue personnel prepare for a recovery mission after Lion Air flight JT610 crashed into the sea AFP/Getty Images Oil slick where Lion Air flight JT 610 reportedly crashed into the sea off the coast of Indonesia's Java island AFP/Getty Images Members of a rescue team prepare to search for survivors from the Lion Air flight JT 610 AFP/Getty Images Relatives of passengers arrive at Lion Air's crisis center at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang AP Nugroho from Indonesia's National Disaster Mitigation Agency shows personnel looking at items believed to be from the wreckage AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Indonesian rescuers evacuating parts from a crashed Lion Air passenger plane in waters off Tanjung Karawang EPA A rescue team member points to the location where Indonesia's Lion Air flight JT 610 had crashed into the sea AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images EPA EPA Bangka Belitung province governor Erzaldi Rosman Djohan (seated C, holding microphone), addresses journalists AFP/Getty Images AP Members of a rescue team prepare to search for survivors AFP/Getty Images Airport authority head Bagus Sunjoyo (3rd R, holding microphone) addresses journalists after Lion Air flight JT 610 crashed into the sea AFP/Getty Images EPA An aerial view shows the site where it is believed the Lion Air flight JT610 crashed Reuters EPA AFP/Getty Images EPA A member of an Indonesian rescue team conducting a briefing on handling the evacuation process EPA EPA EPA Indonesian rescue team members collecting the remains of the crashed plane at Tanjung Priok Harbou EPA Indonesian rescue team members collecting the remains of the crashed plane at Tanjung Priok Harbou EPA AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said the aircraft, on a 70 minute flight to Pangkal Pinang on an island chain off Sumatra, was carrying 181 passengers, including one child and two babies, and seven crew members. At least 23 government officials were on board the plane. Relatives have turned up to the National Search and Rescue Agency's headquarters in Jakarta desperate for news. Relatives of those onboard wait for news at Depati Amir Airport / AP One relative, Feni, said her soon to be married sister was on the flight. She said: "We are here to find any information about my younger sister, her fiance, her in-law to be and a friend of them. We don't have any information. Rescuers search for survivors following a plane crash in Indonesia / REUTERS "No one provided us with any information that we need. We're confused. We hope that our family is still alive." Data for Flight 610 on aircraft tracking website FlightAware ends just a few minutes following takeoff. Indonesian TV showed dozens of people waiting anxiously outside the Pangkal Pinang airport and officials bringing out plastic chairs. Indonesian relatives of the plane crash victims cry as they wait for the news at the airport / EPA Lion Air is one of Indonesia's youngest and biggest airlines, flying to dozens of domestic and international destinations. According to the airlines, the plane had been in operation since August, with its pilot and co-pilot having accumulated 11,000 hours of flying time. Edward Sirait, the chief executive of Lion Air Group said: “We don’t dare to say what the facts are, or are not, yet. We are also confused about the why, since it was a new plane.” Images show debris recovered from the scene / REUTERS He added that the aircraft had a technical problem on a flight from the resort island of Bali to Jakarta but it had been "resolved according to procedure." The issue with the earlier would be part of the investigation of Monday's crash, he said. A Lion Air plane landing at the Mutiara Sis Al Jufri airport in Palu, earlier this month / ADEK BERRY/AFP/Getty Images Australia's foreign affairs ministry says that Australian government officials and contractors "have been instructed not to fly on Lion Air or their subsidiary airlines" following the crash. The statement posted on the ministry's website said the decision will be reviewed when the findings of the crash investigation are clear. Boeing Co. said it was "deeply saddened" by the crash and was prepared to provide technical assistance to Indonesia's crash probe. In a statement, the Chicago-based manufacturer expressed its concern for the 189 people onboard and offered "heartfelt sympathies to their families and loved ones." In 2013, one Lion Air's 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. 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.<doc-sep>Lion Air crash: Rescuers find passengers' possessions top stories direct to your inbox SUBSCRIBE Invalid email Sign up to receive our rundown of the day'sdirect to your inbox When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Sometimes they'll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer. Our Privacy Notice explains more about how we use your data, and your rights. You can unsubscribe at any time. Lion Air flight JT610, an almost new Boeing 737 MAX 8, lost contact with air traffic control 13 minutes after taking off from and went down nine miles off the coast. Rescue workers have so far retrieved six bodies from the sea. Bambang Suryo Ali, operational director of the Basarnas, Indonesia's search and rescue agency, said: "We need to find the main wreckage. I predict there are no survivors, based on body parts found so far." Search and rescue agency head Muhmmad Syaugi said teams had begun removing bodies from the crash site and that mobile phones and life vests had been found in waters about 100ft deep near where the plane lost contact with ground officials. We hope, we pray, but we cannot confirm Muhmmad Syaugi He said: “We are there already, our vessels, our helicopter is hovering above the waters, to assist. "We are trying to dive down to find the wreck." Ambulances are lined up at Karawang, on the coast east of Jakarta and police were preparing rubber dinghies. Fishing boats are also being used to help with the search. At least 23 government officials were among the 189 board the plane, which an air navigation spokesman said had sought permission to turn back just before losing contact. Search and rescue teams looks for survivors after the Lion Air crash off Indonesia Edward Sirait, chief executive of Lion Air Group, said the aircraft had a technical problem on a flight from the resort island of Bali to Jakarta but it had been "resolved according to procedure". Mr Sirait declined to specify the nature of the issue but said none of its other aircraft of that model had the same problem. He said Lion had operated 11 Boeing 737 Max 8s and it had no plan to ground the rest of them. 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. The head of Indonesia's transport safety committee said he could not confirm the cause of the crash, which would have to wait until the recovery of the plane's black boxes, as the cockpit voice recorder and data flight recorder are known. Soerjanto Tjahjono said: "The plane is so modern, it transmits data from the plane, and that we will review too. But the most important is the blackbox.” Indonesian President Joko Widodo said authorities were focusing on the search and rescue, and he called for the country's prayers and support. Lion Air crash search teams in action The flight took off from Jakarta around 6.20am and was due to have landed in Pangkal Pinang, capital of the Bangka-Belitung tin mining region, an hour later. Data from FlightRadar24 shows the first sign of something amiss was around two minutes into the flight, when the plane had reached 2,000 feet. It descended more than 500ft and veered to the left before climbing again to 5000ft where it stayed during most of the rest of the flight. It began gaining speed in the final moments and reached 397mph before data was lost when it was at 3,650ft. Lion Air crash: Family members receive treatment at crisis centre<doc-sep>
A brand-new jet airliner carrying 189 passengers and crew crashed into the sea shortly after takeoff from Indonesia's capital on Monday, prompting a major effort in the region that soon turned from rescue to recovery when officials disclosed there were likely no survivors. The Lion Air Boeing 737 MAX-8 aircraft had just taken off from Jakarta when the pilot requested to return to the airport three minutes into the flight. Data for Lion Air's Flight 610 on aircraft tracking website FlightAware ends just a few minutes following takeoff, with the plane at an altitude of only 5,200 feet. An air transport official, Novie Riyanto, told the Associated Press the flight was cleared to return to Jakarta after the pilot made a "return to base" request, but the flight plunged into the sea about 10 minutes later. After a massive search effort was launched, operation director Bambang Suryo Aji told reporters that officials are not expecting to find any survivors, Sky News reported. "My prediction is that nobody survived because the victims that we found, their bodies were no longer intact and it's been hours so it is likely 189 people have died," he said. There were 189 people on-board the plane, including crew. Among them were two children and a baby. A disaster agency spokesman posted photos of the debris including a crushed smartphone, books, bags, and parts of the aircraft fuselage that had been collected by search and rescue vessels. The National Search and Rescue Agency said about 300 people -- including soldiers, police, and local fisherman were involved in the search, and besides body parts that ID cards, personal belongings, and aircraft debris were also recovered. SUBSCRIBE TO FOX NEWS FIRST -- YOUR BRIEFING ON ALL THE STORIES TO START THE DAY Lion Air chief executive Edward Sirait said there was a "technical problem" with the plane on an earlier flight, which had been fixed, according to Sky News. "It got repaired in Denpasar [in Bali] and then it was flown to Jakarta," he said. "Engineers in Jakarta received notes and did another repair before it took off on Monday. That's the normal procedure for any plane." Meanwhile, dozens of people waited anxiously outside the Pangkal Pinang airport while officials brought out plastic chairs, Indonesian TV showed. Feni, who uses a single name, told the AP her soon-to-be-married sister was on the flight, planning to meet relatives in Pangkal Pinang. "We are here to find any information about my younger sister, her fiance, her in-law to be and a friend of them," said Feni. "We don't have any information," she said, as her father wiped tears from reddened eyes. "No one provided us with any information that we need. We're confused. We hope that our family is still alive." The Boeing 737 Max 8 was delivered to Lion Air in mid-August and put in use within days, according to aviation website Flightradar24. Malindo Air, a Malaysian subsidiary of Jakarta-based Lion Air, was the first airline using the 737 Max 8 last year. The Max 8 replaced the similar 800 in the Chicago-based plane maker's product line. Boeing Co. released a statement offering its "heartfelt sympathies" to the passengers' "families and loved ones." The Chicago-based manufacturer said it was prepared to provide technical assistance to search efforts. The crash is Indonesia's worst airline disaster since AirAsia flight from Surabaya to Singapore plunged into the sea in December 2014, killing all 162 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 decade-long ban in 2016. On Monday, the European Commission said it had no immediate plans to ban Lion Air again, saying it will analyze the results of the investigation into the disaster. PILOT IN CRASH THAT KILLED BRITISH FAMILY MAY HAVE BEEN KNOCKED UNCONSCIOUS BY PERSON TAKING PHOTO, REPORT SAYS Australia's foreign affairs ministry, however, said that government officials and contractors "have been instructed not to fly on Lion Air or their subsidiary airlines" in the wake of the crash. "This decision will be reviewed when the findings of the crash investigation are clear," the agency said in a statement. Lion Air is one of Indonesia's youngest and biggest airlines, flying to dozens of domestic and international destinations.