Indonesian transport ministry on missing plane

A dozen ships, including four naval warships, were on Saturday deployed in search and rescue efforts after a Sriwijaya Air passenger jet carrying 62 people lost contact with air traffic controllers, minutes after taking off from Indonesia's capital on a domestic flight, according to officials.

Spokesperson for the Indonesian Ministry of Transportation Anita Irawati said "several ships from the navy" had been deployed, along with six police ships, with the search concentrated between Lancang Island and Laki Island, part of the Thousand Islands chain just north of Jakarta.

Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said Flight SJ182 was delayed for an hour before it took off at 2:36 p.m. (7:46 a.m GMT)

The Boeing 737-500 disappeared from radar four minutes later, after the pilot contacted air traffic control to ascend to an altitude of 29,000 feet (8,839 meters), he said.

Television footage showed relatives and friends of people aboard the plane weeping, praying and hugging each other as they waited at airports in Jakarta and Pontianak.

Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago nation, with more than 260 million people, has been plagued by transportation accidents on land, sea and air because of overcrowding on ferries, aging infrastructure and poorly enforced safety standards.