Lion Air flight crashes into

the sea after taking off from

Indonesian capital Jakarta
A search and rescue effort has been launched after the
passenger jet lost contact 13 minutes after take-off on Monday
morning.

A Lion Air flight between Jakarta and an island off Sumatra has crashed, Indonesian search
and rescue officials have said.

A search and rescue effort has been launched after the passenger jet lost contact 13 minutes
after takeoff on Monday morning.

The Boeing 737-800 left the Indonesian capital at 6.20am and was headed north to arrive in
Pangkal Pinang, on the island of Bangka, at around 7.20am.

An official from Indonesia's transport ministry has said there were 188 people on board,
including crew.

The crew of a tug boat nearby told authorities they saw a plane falling from the sky - reports
authorities in Jakarta's eastern district, closest to the crash site, are working to verify.

We're following reports that contact has been lost with Lion Air flight #JT610 shortly after
takeoff from Jakarta.

"We can confirm that one of our flights has lost contact, its position cannot be ascertained
yet," Lion Air spokesperson Danang Mandala Prihantoro said.

Yusuf Latif, a spokesperson for the search and rescue agency said "it has been confirmed
that it has crashed."

Flight Radar said it was processing detailed information transmitted by the aircraft and that
"preliminary data show an increase in speed and decrease in altitude at last transmission".

The flight tracking service reported that the plane, powered by two CFM LEAP-1B engines,
had been delivered to Lion Air in August this year.

The accident is the first involving the Boeing 737 MAX model, which are more fuel-efficient
versions of the manufacturer's single-aisle passenger jet. Lion Air subsidiary Malindo Air
received the first delivery of the model in 2017.

Boeing tweeted it was "aware of reports of an airplane accident and is closely monitoring
the situation".
Low-cost carrier Lion Air began operating in 2000 and now operates 183 routes within
Indonesia and surrounding countries including Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and China.

It is one of many new carriers in Indonesia, an island nation that relies heavily on air travel
but has attracted a reputation for poor regulation.

Weather around Jakarta was reported to be cloudy this morning, with a rising chance of rain
throughout the day.

Leicester helicopter crash: Football club's owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha among five
killed

Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha died when his aircraft came down in a car park soon after taking
off from inside the club's stadium.

The owner of Leicester City was among five people killed when his helicopter crashed
outside the football club's stadium, it has been confirmed.

Thai billionaire Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha died when the aircraft fell from the sky after
taking off from inside the ground following a 1-1 draw against West Ham.

Witnesses said the chairman's helicopter seemed to spiral out of control moments after it
set off from the King Power Stadium pitch on Saturday evening and plummeted in a huge
fireball into a car park.

Police said the other four victims were believed to be two of Mr Srivaddhanaprabha's staff
Nursara Suknamai and Kaveporn Punpare, pilot Eric Swaffer and Mr Swaffer's girlfriend
Izabela Roza Lechowicz, who was a fellow pilot.