JAKARTA: Authorities have pinpointed the situation of two black packing containers from a crashed Indonesian jet, they stated Sunday, referring to cockpit voice and flight information recorders that might assist clarify why the plane went down with 62 folks aboard.
The announcement got here as divers pulled physique components, wreckage and clothes from waters off Indonesia’s capital Jakarta.
“We have located the place of the black packing containers, each of them,” stated Soerjanto Tjahjanto, head of Indonesia’s transport security company.
“Divers will begin searching for them now and hopefully it will not be lengthy earlier than we get them.”
The Sriwijaya Air Boeing 737-500 went right into a steep dive about 4 minutes after it left Soekarno-Hatta worldwide airport in Jakarta on Saturday afternoon.
Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo expressed his “deep condolences”, and referred to as on residents to “pray collectively in order that victims might be discovered”.
But the frantic search involving helicopters and a flotilla of warships appeared to supply no hope of discovering any survivors.
The search and rescue company stated it had to this point collected 5 physique baggage with human stays in addition to particles from the crash web site within the Java Sea.
A chunk of kid’s clothes, a damaged tyre and wheel, life jackets and wreckage from the aircraft’s physique had been discovered, in accordance with authorities and AFP reporters on the scene.
Among the passengers was Beben Sofian, 59, and her husband Dan Razanah, 58.
“They took a selfie and despatched it to their youngsters earlier than taking off,” the couple’s nephew Hendra instructed AFP.
All 62 folks on board, passengers and crew, had been Indonesian, authorities stated. The depend included 10 kids.
– ‘Torn into items’ –
Distraught relations waited nervously for information on the airport in Pontianak, the town on Indonesia’s part of Borneo island which had been flight SJ182’s vacation spot, about 90 minutes flying time over the Java Sea.
“I’ve 4 members of the family on the flight — my spouse and three kids,” Yaman Zai stated on Saturday night as he sobbed.
“(My spouse) despatched me an image of the newborn as we speak… How may my coronary heart not be torn into items?”
Data from FlightRadar24 indicated that the airliner reached an altitude of practically 11,000 ft (3,350 metres) earlier than dropping all of a sudden to 250 ft. It then misplaced contact with air visitors management.
The transport minister stated Saturday that the jet appeared to deviate from its meant course simply earlier than it disappeared from radar.
Poor climate, pilot error or a technical downside with the aircraft had been potential components, stated Jakarta-based aviation analyst Gerry Soejatman.
“But it is method too early to conclude something,” he added.
“After the black box is discovered we will begin placing the puzzle collectively.”
Sriwijaya Air, which operates flights to locations in Indonesia and Southeast Asia, has stated solely that it was investigating the lack of contact.
It didn’t instantly remark when contacted by AFP once more on Sunday.
– Reputation for poor security –
In October 2018, 189 folks had been killed when a Lion Air Boeing 737 MAX jet crashed close to Jakarta.
That crash — and one other in Ethiopia — noticed Boeing hit with $2.5 billion in fines over claims it defrauded regulators overseeing the 737 MAX mannequin, which was grounded worldwide following the 2 lethal crashes.
The 26-year-old 737 that went down Saturday was not a MAX variant.
“Our ideas are with the crew, passengers, and their households,” Boeing stated in a press release, including that it was in touch with the airline.
Indonesia’s aviation sector has lengthy had a repute for poor security, and its airways had been as soon as banned from coming into US and European airspace.
In 2014, an AirAsia aircraft headed from Surabaya to Singapore crashed with the lack of 162 lives.
Domestic investigators’ ultimate report on that crash stated main components included a chronically defective element in a rudder management system, poor upkeep, and the pilots’ insufficient response.
A 12 months later, in 2015, greater than 140 folks, together with scores on the bottom, had been killed when a navy aircraft crashed shortly after take-off in Medan on Sumatra island.
