A Sriwijaya Air jet carrying 62 people lost contact with air traffic controllers minutes after taking off from Indonesia's capital on a domestic flight on Saturday, and debris found by fishermen was being examined to see if it was from the missing plane, officials said.Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said Flight SJ182 was delayed for an hour before it took off at 2:36 p.m. 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.The airline said in a statement that the plane was on an estimated 90-minute flight from Jakarta to Pontianak, the capital of West Kalimantan province on Indonesia’s Borneo island. The plane was carrying 50 passengers and 12 crew members, all Indonesian nationals, including six extra crew for another trip.Sumadi said a dozen vessels, including four warships, were deployed in a search-and-rescue operation centered between Lancang island and Laki island, part of the Thousand Islands chain just north of Jakarta.Bambang Suryo Aji, the National Search and Rescue Agency’s deputy head of operations and preparedness, said rescuers collected plane debris and clothes that were found by fishermen. They handed the items over to the National Transportation Safety Committee for further investigation to determine whether they were from the missing plane.A commander of one of the search-and-rescue ships who goes by a single name, Eko, said that fishermen found cables and pieces of metal in the water.“The fishermen told us that they found them shortly after they heard an explosion like the sound of thunder,” Eko was quoted by TVOne as saying, adding that aviation fuel was found in the location where the fishermen found the debris.Aji said no radio beacon signal had been detected from the 26-year-old plane. He said his agency was investigating why the plane's emergency locator transmitter, or ELT, was not transmitting a signal that could confirm whether it had crashed.“The satellite system owned by neighboring Australia also did not pick up on the ELT signal from the missing plane,” Aji said.Tracking service Flightradar24 said on its Twitter feed that Flight SJ182 lost more than 10,000 feet (3,048 meters) of altitude in less than a minute, about four minutes after takeoff.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.Chicago-based Boeing said on its Twitter feed that it was aware of the incident. It said it was closely monitoring the situation and “working to gather more information.”The twin-engine, single aisle Boeing 737 is one of the world’s most popular planes for short and medium-haul flights. The 737-500 is a shorter version of the widely used 737 model. Airlines began using this type of plane in the 1990s, with production ending two decades ago.Sriwijaya began operations in 2003 and flies to more than 50 destinations in Indonesia and a handful of nearby countries, according to its website. Its fleet includes a variety of 737 variants as well as the regional ATR 72 twin-engine turboprop plane.The airline has had a solid safety record until now, with no onboard casualties in four incidents recorded on the Aviation Safety Network database, though a farmer was killed when a Boeing 737-200 left the runway in 2008 following a hydraulic problem.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.In October 2018, a Boeing 737 MAX 8 jet operated by Lion Air plunged into the Java Sea just minutes after taking off from Jakarta, killing all 189 people on board. The plane involved in Saturday's incident did not have the automated flight-control system that played a role in the Lion Air crash and another crash of a 737 MAX 8 jet in Ethiopia five months later, leading to the grounding of the MAX 8 for 20 months.The Lion Air crash was Indonesia's worst airline disaster since 1997, when 234 people were killed on a Garuda airlines flight near Medan on Sumatra island. In December 2014, an AirAsia flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore plunged into the sea, killing 162 people.Indonesian airlines were previously banned from flying to the United States and European Union for not meeting international safety standards. Both have since lifted the ban, citing improvement in aviation safety and greater compliance with international standards.

Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency team was continuing a search operation for the 62 people aboard Sriwijaya Air Flight 182, which crashed into the ocean shortly after takeoff Saturday.The Boeing 737-500 plane was heading from Jakarta to the city of Pontianak, on the Indonesian side of Borneo, when it lost contact at 2:40 p.m. local time (2:40 a.m. ET), 11 nautical miles north of Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.There were 50 passengers — 43 adults and 7 children — on board, as well as 12 crew members, according to Indonesia's minister of transportation.Sunday, family members gathered at a victim identification center in Jakarta and at a crisis center in Pontianak, where they waited for any news of their loved ones.Here's what we know about the victims so far.Agus Minarni and Muhammad Nur Kholifatul AminAgus Minarni and Muhammad Nur Kholifatul Amin had traveled from their home in Mempawah, in Indonesian Borneo, to Jakarta, in Java, to attend the funeral of Amin's father — which was taking place in Ponorogo, in Java's east.While they were in Ponorogo, they were also able to spend time with one of their sons, who attends a boarding school there.When the couple returned to Jakarta, Minarni's brother Yudiansyah Yunus asked her for help in securing a place at a boarding school for one of his sons.That was the last time they would be in contact, Yunus told CNN.Minarni and her husband were supposed to fly home Jan. 5 on another carrier — Nam Air, he said.But when they arrived at the airport Tuesday, they were informed that in order to board the flight, they would need to take a coronavirus PCR test — a process that would delay them from flying for another two days.Once the couple got the results of their test, they were able to rebook their flight home — but this time, it would be on another carrier, Sriwijaya Air.Yunus says the loss of his sister has left a huge hole in the family and that he will miss her terribly.She was a kind person, he said, adding that she had always helped him and his younger sister in many ways. He added that she was an especially caring person and had treated her aunts and uncles with kindness.Yunus said he will take care of the couple's teenage children, who are now orphans.It is imperative that "all involved stakeholders, the airline and the government take this investigation seriously," Yunus said.He added that he hopes the Indonesian authorities will do their best "to at least find their remains in whatever form" so he can bury his sister "properly, like those who pass away normally.""That's all I hope," he said.A family of five in transitA family of five from Bangka island — an island to the east of of Sumatra — was missing and feared dead, according to aunt of the family, who spoke to CNN.The family released a statement Saturday saying that 26-year-old Rizki Wahyudi, his 26-year-old wife, Indah Halimah Putri, and their 7-month-old son were on the flight that crashed.Wahyudi's mother and cousin were also on the flight.Wahyudi worked for the Indonesian Forestry Commission in Ketapang, West Kalimantan — a province on the Indonesian side of Borneo — for the past three years.The family of five had been in the Bangka Islands visiting other family members and were headed back to West Kalimantan via Jakarta.Sunday, two of Wahyudi's uncles in Bangka submitted their DNA to help with the identification process.A pregnant mother and her family who were visiting relatives in JakartaRatih Windania, who was four months pregnant, was visiting family members in Jakarta with her 2-year-old daughter, Yumna; 8-year-old nephew, Athar Rizki Riawan; uncle Tony Islmail and aunt Rachmawati, according to Riawan's father, Iwan.Iwan said the group was meant to fly out on Jan. 1, but was delayed as they had to take COVID-19 tests prior to flying. On Jan. 9, the group was meant to get an earlier flight on Nam Air, but it was changed to the Sriwijaya Air Flight 182 for an "unknown reason," he said.In a story posted to her Instagram account before departing from Jakarta airport Saturday, Windania says goodbye to relatives who live in Jakarta.Windania also posted a cheerful photo of herself and her smiling daughter and nephew sitting on the plane moments before takeoff.Iwan told CNN his son Riawan was 8 years old but had an old soul, giving advice to his 16-year-old sister rather than the other way round. "Our big family feels lost now that he's gone," Iwan said, visibly emotional from his home in Pontianak.Father and businessman Yohanes Suherdi, 30Yohanes Suherdi was in Jakarta on a business trip and looking forward to returning to his family in Ngarak, a village several hours from Pontianak airport.His wife, Susilawati Bungahilaria, 32, told CNN she hopes Suherdi will be found safe and that the family will be able to reunite soon. The couple has a 5-year-old son, Rian Gusti Rafael.Bungahilaria said she spoke with her husband — whom she described as a "very good and sociable person" — shortly before takeoff."His last message to me was not to forget to take our son to see a doctor because he had a fever," she said.Sobbing, she said her son keeps asking when his father is coming home.Bungahilaria and Suherdi's father traveled Sunday to a crisis center set up in Pontianak, where they submitted physical items that could help with the identification process, including the father's DNA.

Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency team was continuing a search operation for the 62 people aboard Sriwijaya Air Flight 182, which crashed into the ocean shortly after takeoff Saturday.

The Boeing 737-500 plane was heading from Jakarta to the city of Pontianak, on the Indonesian side of Borneo, when it lost contact at 2:40 p.m. local time (2:40 a.m. ET), 11 nautical miles north of Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.

There were 50 passengers — 43 adults and 7 children — on board, as well as 12 crew members, according to Indonesia's minister of transportation.

Sunday, family members gathered at a victim identification center in Jakarta and at a crisis center in Pontianak, where they waited for any news of their loved ones.

Here's what we know about the victims so far.

Agus Minarni and Muhammad Nur Kholifatul Amin

Agus Minarni and Muhammad Nur Kholifatul Amin had traveled from their home in Mempawah, in Indonesian Borneo, to Jakarta, in Java, to attend the funeral of Amin's father — which was taking place in Ponorogo, in Java's east.

Yudiansyah Yunus

While they were in Ponorogo, they were also able to spend time with one of their sons, who attends a boarding school there.

When the couple returned to Jakarta, Minarni's brother Yudiansyah Yunus asked her for help in securing a place at a boarding school for one of his sons.

That was the last time they would be in contact, Yunus told CNN.

Minarni and her husband were supposed to fly home Jan. 5 on another carrier — Nam Air, he said.

But when they arrived at the airport Tuesday, they were informed that in order to board the flight, they would need to take a coronavirus PCR test — a process that would delay them from flying for another two days.

Once the couple got the results of their test, they were able to rebook their flight home — but this time, it would be on another carrier, Sriwijaya Air.

Yunus says the loss of his sister has left a huge hole in the family and that he will miss her terribly.

She was a kind person, he said, adding that she had always helped him and his younger sister in many ways. He added that she was an especially caring person and had treated her aunts and uncles with kindness.

Yunus said he will take care of the couple's teenage children, who are now orphans.

It is imperative that "all involved stakeholders, the airline and the government take this investigation seriously," Yunus said.

He added that he hopes the Indonesian authorities will do their best "to at least find their remains in whatever form" so he can bury his sister "properly, like those who pass away normally."

"That's all I hope," he said.

A family of five in transit

A family of five from Bangka island — an island to the east of of Sumatra — was missing and feared dead, according to aunt of the family, who spoke to CNN.

The family released a statement Saturday saying that 26-year-old Rizki Wahyudi, his 26-year-old wife, Indah Halimah Putri, and their 7-month-old son were on the flight that crashed.

Courtesy of Elsa

Wahyudi's mother and cousin were also on the flight.

Wahyudi worked for the Indonesian Forestry Commission in Ketapang, West Kalimantan — a province on the Indonesian side of Borneo — for the past three years.

The family of five had been in the Bangka Islands visiting other family members and were headed back to West Kalimantan via Jakarta.

Sunday, two of Wahyudi's uncles in Bangka submitted their DNA to help with the identification process.

A pregnant mother and her family who were visiting relatives in Jakarta

Ratih Windania, who was four months pregnant, was visiting family members in Jakarta with her 2-year-old daughter, Yumna; 8-year-old nephew, Athar Rizki Riawan; uncle Tony Islmail and aunt Rachmawati, according to Riawan's father, Iwan.

Iwan said the group was meant to fly out on Jan. 1, but was delayed as they had to take COVID-19 tests prior to flying. On Jan. 9, the group was meant to get an earlier flight on Nam Air, but it was changed to the Sriwijaya Air Flight 182 for an "unknown reason," he said.

In a story posted to her Instagram account before departing from Jakarta airport Saturday, Windania says goodbye to relatives who live in Jakarta.

Windania also posted a cheerful photo of herself and her smiling daughter and nephew sitting on the plane moments before takeoff.

Iwan told CNN his son Riawan was 8 years old but had an old soul, giving advice to his 16-year-old sister rather than the other way round. "Our big family feels lost now that he's gone," Iwan said, visibly emotional from his home in Pontianak.

Father and businessman Yohanes Suherdi, 30

Yohanes Suherdi was in Jakarta on a business trip and looking forward to returning to his family in Ngarak, a village several hours from Pontianak airport.

CNN

His wife, Susilawati Bungahilaria, 32, told CNN she hopes Suherdi will be found safe and that the family will be able to reunite soon. The couple has a 5-year-old son, Rian Gusti Rafael.

Bungahilaria said she spoke with her husband — whom she described as a "very good and sociable person" — shortly before takeoff.

"His last message to me was not to forget to take our son to see a doctor because he had a fever," she said.

Sobbing, she said her son keeps asking when his father is coming home.

Bungahilaria and Suherdi's father traveled Sunday to a crisis center set up in Pontianak, where they submitted physical items that could help with the identification process, including the father's DNA.