Bodies of 5 victims recovered from Indonesian jet that crashed into Java Sea moments after takeoff

An Indonesian passenger jet carrying 62 passengers and crew crashed into the Java Sea on Saturday, shortly after taking off from Jakarta. Rescuers pulled out body parts, pieces of clothing and scraps of metal from the water early Sunday morning, according to The Associated Press.

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Updated 8:15 a.m. ET Jan. 10, 2021: Human remains have been pulled from the jetliner that plunged into the Java Sea moments after takeoff.

The National Search and Rescue Agency has so far recovered the bodies of five victims from the crash, CNN reported. A victim investigation unit will work to identify the victims.

Investigators have filled about 10 bags with wreckage and debris.

Original report: Sriwijaya Air Flight SJ182, a Boeing 737-500 jet, last made contact with air traffic controllers at 2:40 p.m. local time, The New York Times reported.

Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said officials were hopeful they were closing in on the wreckage after sonar equipment detected a signal from the aircraft, the AP reported. Officials later said divers had found parts of the plane’s wreckage in 75 feet of water.

Sumadi said the flight was delayed for an hour before it took off at 2:36 p.m., the AP reported. The aircraft disappeared from radar four minutes later after the pilot contacted air traffic control to ascend to an altitude of 29,000 feet, Sumadi said.

Sumadi said during a news conference that the plane had 12 crew members and 50 passengers -- 43 adults and seven children.

The Times reported that the 26-year-old plane lost more than 10,000 in altitude in less than 60 seconds, according to Flightradar24, the flight-tracking service.

Maj. Gen Bambang Suryo Aji of Basarnas, Indonesia’s national search and rescue agency, told reporters that the plane is believed to have crashed between the islands of Laki and Lancang, in the Thousand Islands chain northwest of Jakarta. Basarnas is now conducting a search operation.

Three fishermen from Lancang Island told CNN they heard an explosion and experienced a sudden large wave.

“I heard (a) very loud explosion. I thought it was a bomb or a big thunder,” Hendrik Mulyadi told CNN. “We then saw the big wave, about 2 meters high, hitting our boat.”

Mulyadi’s colleague, Solihin, described the sound as “a bomb on the water.”

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