Indonesia's Sriwijaya Air lost contact with one of its planes Saturday afternoon shortly after taking off from Jakarta, with transportation officials saying the aircraft carrying 62 passengers and crew likely crashed just off the northern coast of the capital.

Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi told a press conference that Sriwijaya Air Flight 182 departed Jakarta's Sukarno-Hatta International Airport at 2:36 p.m. bound for Pontianak, in West Kalimantan Province, but the "last contact occurred at 2:40 p.m."

"The plane was still in contact with Jakarta at 2:37 p.m, asking to ascend to 29,000 feet," Sumadi said, adding that President Joko Widodo has instructed him to maximize search and rescue efforts.

While he did not say during the press conference whether the plane had crashed, he later confirmed with Kyodo News that the plane did go down near Laki Island of Thousand Islands, just off Jakarta.

Rescue officials told reporters they have found suspected debris from the missing aircraft, including parts of an airplane, electrical cables and clothes in the same area.

Among the 62 people on board the Boeing 737-500, there were 10 children, including three infants, and 12 crew members.

Sriwijaya Air, a domestic low-cost carrier, said in a statement it could not provide any other details as it was still trying to gather more information.

The incident marks the second major crash of a Boeing 737 aircraft in recent years in the country. In October 2018, a Boeing 737 MAX8 operated by low-cost carrier Lion Air crashed off the northeast coast of Jakarta immediately after takeoff, killing 189 passengers and crew.