Wreckage of Indonesian Jet Seen in First Underwater Footage | 22 Words

On Saturday morning, the horrific news emerged that a Boeing 737 had crashed into the sea shortly after takeoff.

And now, in the days following the tragedy, the Indonesian navy has released footage of the underwater wreckage.

Here's the full story...

The tragic news emerged on Saturday, January 9th.

A Sriwijaya Air Boeing 737 had crashed into the sea.

The plane reportedly dropped 10,000 feet in altitude in under one minute...

And crashed into the sea just minutes after taking off from the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, journeying to Pontianak in the West Kalimantan province.

It was reported that around sixty people were onboard the aircraft at the time of the crash...

And, although their fate has not yet been confirmed, it is believed that there are no survivors.

Flightradar24 confirmed the shocking news.

They wrote: "We are following reports of a missing Boeing 737-500 in Indonesia. We hope to have more information soon."

Later that day, they added:

"Sriwijaya Air flight #SJ182 lost more than 10,000 feet of altitude in less than one minute, about 4 minutes after departure from Jakarta."

A local fisherman who witnessed the crash wrote:

"[The plane] fell like lightning into the sea and exploded in the water. It was pretty close to us, the shards of a kind of plywood almost hit my ship."

There were thought to be sixty-two passengers on board.

Including 7 children, 3 babies, and twelve cabin crew on board.

The flight reportedly vanished at 2:40 pm local time.

Aviation analyst, Alex Macheras, wrote: "A passenger Boeing 737 is missing after losing contact with Indonesian authorities shortly after take off from Jakarta airport. Sriwijaya Air flight #SJ182 is a 737-500 (classic narrow-body airline jet) — the aircraft in question is twenty-six years old."

He continued:

"Sriwijaya Air is Indonesia’s third-largest airline, listed as a Category 1 airline, the country’s highest safety rating."

"@flightradar24’s ADS-B data from #SJ182 shows the aircraft losing “more than 10,000 feet of altitude in less than 1 minute" less than 5 mins after departure."

"Indonesia's transport ministry confirms a search and rescue operation is now under way after contact was lost with the Sriwijaya Air Boeing 737, flight #SJ182."

"Indonesia’s ‘Basarnas’ (search and rescue agency) and KNKT (Indonesian transport safety org) confirm a search & rescue for the missing Boeing 737 is currently under way."

"Fifty-six passengers and 6 crew members boarded #SJ182 - the Boeing 737-500 - when it departed Jakarta earlier today. Indonesian’s transport ministry confirms the last contact with the Sriwijaya Air flight (which had only just departed Jakarta) was at 14:20 local time."

Macheras also confirmed that wreckage had been found.

He wrote: "Scattered debris, suspected of being part of the Sriwijaya Air flight #SJ182 wreckage, has been found in the Java Sea near to Jakarta - Indonesian rescue agency."

Over the weekend, locals have been finding bits of the wreckage floating in the sea...

And the chilling footage has been widely shared online.

Boeing released a statement following news of the crash...

"We are aware of media reports from Jakarta, and are closely monitoring the situation. We are working to gather more information."

The flight was only supposed to be ninety minutes long.

From Jakarta to Pontianak, capital of West Kalimantan province on Indonesia’s Borneo island.

And now, footage has been released by the divers who have been searching the crash site...

They were hoping that they'd be able to find the black boxes from the airplane.

The Sriwijaya Air Boeing 737-500 is now in pieces on the ocean floor...

Along with all of the items brought by passengers, including children's backpacks and toys.

The rescue operation includes around 2,600 people, helping to remove parts of the plane, as well as the bodies...

In the hope of finding out what caused the plane to go down so suddenly.

Body bags have been taken to a police hospital...

In the hope that they can be identified by family members.

Our thoughts go out to all those affected by this horrific crash.

Truly horrifying.