As darkness fell over the Java Sea on Sunday, the Indonesian authorities called off a search for an AirAsia jet with 162 people on board that had been missing since early that morning, Indonesian officials said.

The search, involving vessels from three countries, was to continue in the morning.

The plane left the Indonesian city of Surabaya around 5:30 a.m. for the short hop to Singapore, a flight that usually takes about two hours, the airline said. Air traffic control lost contact with the Airbus A320-200 at 6:17 a.m., about 40 minutes later, Indonesian officials said.

By nightfall, searchers had still found no sign of the wreckage, Indonesian officials said. They were searching a 100-mile area near the island of Belitung, in the Java Sea between the islands of Borneo and Java, where the plane was last known to be flying, officials said.