wreckage (bottom C, in red) during recovery operations near Lancang
Island on January 10, 2021, following the January 9 crash of
Sriwijaya Air flight SJ182 into the Java Sea following takeoff.
(Photo by ADEK BERRY / AFP)
Authorities have pinpointed the location of two black
boxes from a crashed Indonesian jet, they said Sunday, referring to
cockpit voice and flight data recorders that could help explain why
the aircraft went down with 62 people aboard.
The announcement came as divers pulled body parts, wreckage and
clothing from waters off Indonesia’s capital Jakarta.
“We have located the position of the black boxes, both of them,”
said Soerjanto Tjahjanto, head of Indonesia’s transport safety
agency.
“Divers will start looking for them now and hopefully it won’t
be long before we get them.”
The Sriwijaya Air Boeing 737-500 went into a steep dive about
four minutes after it left Soekarno-Hatta international airport in
Jakarta on Saturday afternoon.
Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo expressed his “deep
condolences”, and called on citizens to “pray together so that
victims can be found”.
But the frantic search involving helicopters and a flotilla of
warships appeared to offer no hope of finding any survivors.
The search and rescue agency said it had so far collected five
body bags with human remains as well as debris from the crash site
in the Java Sea.
A piece of child’s clothing, a broken tyre and wheel, life
jackets and wreckage from the plane’s body were found, according to
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 sent it to their kids before taking
off,” the couple’s nephew Hendra told AFP.
All 62 people on board, passengers and crew, were Indonesian,
authorities said. The count included 10 children.
– ‘Torn into pieces’ –
Distraught relatives waited nervously for news at the airport in
Pontianak, the city on Indonesia’s section of Borneo island which
had been flight SJ182’s destination, about 90 minutes flying time
over the Java Sea.
“I have four family members on the flight — my wife and three
children,” Yaman Zai said on Saturday evening as he sobbed.
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“(My wife) sent me a picture of the baby today… How could my
heart not be torn into pieces?”
Data from FlightRadar24 indicated that the airliner reached an
altitude of nearly 11,000 feet (3,350 metres) before dropping
suddenly to 250 feet. It then lost contact with air traffic
control.
The transport minister said Saturday that the jet appeared to
deviate from its intended course just before it disappeared from
radar.
Poor weather, pilot error or a technical problem with the plane
were potential factors, said Jakarta-based aviation analyst Gerry
Soejatman.
“But it’s way too early to conclude anything,” he added.
“After the black box is found we can start putting the puzzle
together.”
Sriwijaya Air, which operates flights to destinations in
Indonesia and Southeast Asia, has said only that it was
investigating the loss of contact.
It did not immediately comment when contacted by AFP again on
Sunday.
– Reputation for poor safety –
In October 2018, 189 people were killed when a Lion Air Boeing
737 MAX jet crashed near Jakarta.
That crash — and another in Ethiopia — saw Boeing hit with $2.5
billion in fines over claims it defrauded regulators overseeing the
737 MAX model, which was grounded worldwide following the two
deadly crashes.
The 26-year-old 737 that went down Saturday was not a MAX
variant.
“Our thoughts are with the crew, passengers, and their
families,” Boeing said in a statement, adding that it was in
contact with the airline.
Indonesia’s aviation sector has long had a reputation for poor
safety, and its airlines were once banned from entering US and
European airspace.
In 2014, an AirAsia plane headed from Surabaya to Singapore
crashed with the loss of 162 lives.
Domestic investigators’ final report on that crash said major
factors included a chronically faulty component in a rudder control
system, poor maintenance, and the pilots’ inadequate response.
A year later, in 2015, more than 140 people, including scores on
the ground, were killed when a military plane crashed shortly after
take-off in Medan on Sumatra island.
Read more https://swordpress.com.ng/2021/01/10/indonesia-says-black-box-recorders-from-crashed-plane-located/