Boeing 737 Max 8 Indonesia tragedy, stock tumbles

Markets Insider

• A Boeing 737 Max 8 plane that was carrying 189 people from the Indonesian island of Jakarta to the island of Bangka crashed Monday morning in the coastal waters off Java. The cause of the crash was unclear. 
• Hours later, all people aboard the flight were feared dead.
• Boeing shares fell more than 5% on the news.
• Watch Boeing trade in real time here.

Boeing shares slid by more than 5% on Monday after a 737 Max 8 plane crashed into the sea during a flight between two Indonesian islands. The cause of the crash was unclear. 

Flight JT 610 left the Indonesian capital of Jakarta on Monday at 6:20 a.m. local time carrying 189 people en route for the city of Pangkal Pinang on the island of Bangka, the plane-monitoring site Flight Radar said. The plane fell into coastal waters off the island of Java about 13 minutes after takeoff. Hours later, all people aboard the flight were feared dead.

According to Reuters, JT 610 made a request to return to Jakarta shortly before losing contact. Air traffic controllers granted the request then lost contact with the plane, according to Yohanes Sirait, a spokesman for the Indonesian air authorities.

According to the Jakarta Post, the airliner was powered by twin CFM Leap-1B engines and had been delivered to Lion Air only in August.

Monday’s selling erased most of Boeing’s recent gains that came after the company reported strong third-quarter earnings last Wednesday. The Chicago-based firm said it earned $3.58 a share on $25.1 billion of revenue, while analysts surveyed by Bloomberg were expecting $3.47 a share and $23.9 billion revenue.

The planemaker raised its full-year profit forecast to a range of $14.90 to $15.10 a share from a previous range of $14.30 to $14.50 a share. It also bumped up its full-year revenue forecast to a range of $98 billion to $100 billion, up from $97 billion to $99 billion. Analysts were expecting earnings of $15.08 a share on $99.8 billion in sales.

Boeing shares are up 16% this year.