"It has been confirmed that it has crashed," Yusuf Latif, a spokesman for the agency, said by text message, when asked about the fate of the Lion Air plane.
The plane lost contact 13 minutes after takeoff, according to the official. The jet was a Boeing 737 MAX 8, according to air tracking service Flightradar 24.
There are 189 people onboard the Lion Air plane, Xinhua reported.