Indian pilot Bhavye Suneja captained the Lion Air flight which crashed into the sea with 188 people aboard

On Monday, an Indonesian Lion Air flight took off from Jakarta and was heading towards Pangkal Pinang. But not more than 13 minutes since it got airborne, contact with the plane was lost, and some time later it was found to have crashed in the sea.

Early reports have stated that a total of 188 people, including the passengers, cabin crew and pilots, were onboard, and all of them are feared to be dead. One of the many present when the plane crashed was an Indian, Bhavye Suneja.

Suneja was the pilot who captained the Lion Air JT610 plane. He was a resident of Mayur Vihar in Delhi, and had joined the company in 2011, as per media reports.

The Boeing 737-800 plane, which had departed from its location at 6.20 a.m, could not be contacted by the air officials 13 minutes after it was airborne. A total of 188 passengers were onboard, and initial reports have stated that the plane's debris have been found in Java sea.

Flight tracking service Flightradar24 says preliminary flight data showed a drop in the plane's altitude and increase in speed before the transmission was cut.

The plane appears to have plunged into the sea just off the coast of Indonesia, the data provided by the service shows. It was reportedly at an altitude of 3,650 feet (about 1,112m) when the signal was lost.

Hours after the incident, Indonesia DGCA releases a statement regarding the Lion Air plane crash:

1. Jakarta - Acting Director General of Civil Aviation Pramintohadi Soekarno confirmed that there had been lost contact with Lion Air aircraft by registering PK-LQP flight number JT 610 with the Jakarta-Pangkal Pinang route.

Missing contacts at around 06.33 WIB at position: 05 48,934 S 107 07,384 E and Radial: 40.21 degree / 23.81 NM.

The aircraft carries 178 adult passengers, 1 child and 2 babies. The flight crew consisted of 2 pilots and 5 cabin crew. PIC Capt Bhavve Suneja and SIC Harvino.
 
According to Pramintohadi, the plane has a Certificate of registration issued 15/08/2018 expired 08/08/2021. Certificate of water worthiness issued 15/08/2018 expired 08/08/2019.

Information from Tanjung Priok VTS was received on behalf of Mr. Suyadi, tug boat AS JAYA II (route: South Kalimantan - Marunda) saw Lion Air aircraft allegedly falling around Tanjung Karawang," said Pramintohadi.

According to Pramintohadi, currently a search for the plane was conducted by a team from Basarnas. Rescuer Kansar Jakarta and RIB 03 Kansar Jakarta moves to the location of the coordinates of the incident to conduct SAR operations.

"At present there has been a crisis center in Terminal 1 B of Soekarno Hatta Airport and Depati Amir Pangkal Pinang Airport for families of passengers," said Pramintohadi. (DJPU team)

READ: Minutes After Takeoff, Indonesian Flight Lion Air Crashes Into Sea. LIVE UPDATES HERE