JAKARTA, Indonesia (CU)_The Transport Ministry of Indonesia has announced that a search and rescue operation has been launched, after a flight carrying more than 50 people on board, lost contact with aviation authorities.

The plane, which belongs to the Indonesian Airline, Sriwijaya Air, was travelling to Pontianak in West Kalimantan province, when it lost contact, shortly after taking off from the country’s capital of Jakarta, on Saturday (Jan 9).

Sriwijaya Air is still gathering more  information regarding the flight before announcing further details, the Airline said in a statement.

According to Flightradar24, a Swedish flight tracking agency, the Indonesian carrier “lost more than 10,000 feet of altitude in less than one minute, about 4 minutes after departure from Jakarta”.

Data from the agency indicates the plane is a Boeing 737-500 series.