The Sriwijaya Air passenger jet lost contact after taking off from Indonesian capital Jakarta earlier today en route to Pontianak in West Kalimantan province.
It had more than 60 people on board – including 10 children.
Photos show rescue workers pulling debris from the water in a desperate search for survivors.
The Indonesia rescue agency confirmed suspected debris of the flight had been found.
Residents of Thousand Island said they heard two explosions before finding items in the sea.
“We found some cables, a piece of jeans, and pieces of metal on the water,” Zulkifli, a security official, told CNNIndonesia.com.
The Indonesian Navy has deployed 11 ships to search for the wreckage underwater.
The plane is not a 737 Max, the Boeing model involved in two major crashes in recent years.
According to AirLive.net there were 62 people on board – 56 passengers, four crew members and two pilots.
Of the 56 passengers, 46 were adults, seven were children and three were infants. Their nationality’s have not been disclosed.
Aviation monitoring service Flightradar24 tweeted: “Sriwijaya Air flight #SJ182 lost more than 10,000 feet of altitude in less than one minute, about 4 minutes after departure from Jakarta.”
Sriwijaya Air said in a statement it is still gathering more detailed information regarding the flight before it can make any statement.
A Boeing spokeswoman said: “We are aware of media reports from Jakarta, and are closely monitoring the situation. We are working to gather more information”
The last location of the plane was in the waters of the Java Sea above Banten Province.
The Sriwijaya Air plane lost contact around Lancang Island, Thousand Islands, the manager of branch communication and legal at Soekarno-Hatta Airport, Haerul Anwar, said.
It was raining at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport at the time of take-off for Pontianak, around 740 km (460 miles) away.
Video images from the airport showed pictures of relatives of the passengers in tears as they awaited news of the fate of the aircraft.
“We are currently under investigation and coordinated with Basarnas and the National Transportation Accident Committee (KNKT),” said Adita.
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