Indonesian jet might have been found in sea
Passengers from previous flight of Boeing 737 cite numerous problems
JAKARTA, Indonesia — A top Indonesian military official said today that the Lion Air jet that crashed Monday might have been found in the Java Sea.
Armed forces chief Hadi Tjahjanto said a search and rescue effort has identified the possible seabed location of the jet. Debris and some human remains had been found previously, but not the main fuselage and the black boxes.
The two-month-old Boeing 737 jet crashed Monday just minutes after takeoff from Jakarta, killing all 189 people on board. Its pilot requested clearance to return to the airport two to three minutes after takeoff, indicating a problem, though the cause is still uncertain.
Tjahjanto said a team would be sent to the identified location to confirm the findings.
Relatives numbed by grief have provided samples for DNA tests to help identify victims of the crash, which has reignited concerns about safety in Indonesia’s fast-growing aviation industry.
The airline flew dozens of grieving relatives to the country’s capital, Jakarta.
Aircraft debris and personal belongings including ID cards, clothing and bags found scattered in the sea were spread out on tarps at a port in north Jakarta and sorted into evidence bags. The chief of the police’s medical unit, Arthur Tampi, said it has received dozens of body parts for identification and is awaiting results of DNA tests, expected to take four to eight days.
The disaster has reignited concerns about safety in Indonesia’s fast-growing aviation industry, which was recently removed from European Union and U.S. blacklists.
Two passengers on the plane’s previous flight from Bali to Jakarta on Sunday described issues that caused annoyance and alarm.
Alon Soetanto told TVOne the plane dropped suddenly several times in the first few minutes of its flight.
“About three to eight minutes after it took off, I felt like the plane was losing power and unable to rise. That happened several times during the flight,” he said. “We felt like in a rollercoaster. Some passengers began to panic and vomit.”
His account is consistent with data from flight-tracking sites that show erratic speed, altitude and direction in the minutes after the jet took off. A similar pattern is also seen in data pinged from Monday’s fatal flight. Safety experts cautioned, however, that the data must be checked for accuracy against the plane’s “black boxes,” which officials are confident will be recovered.
Lion Air president Edward Sirait said there were reports of technical problems with the flight from Bali, but they had been resolved in accordance with the plane manufacturer’s procedures. The airline didn’t respond to requests to verify a document purporting to be a Lion Air maintenance report, dated Sunday, that described inaccurate airspeed and altitude readings after takeoff.
In a detailed post online, Indonesian TV presenter Conchita Caroline, who was on Sunday’s flight, said boarding was delayed by more than an hour and when the plane was being towed, a technical problem forced it to return to its parking space.
She said passengers sat in the cabin without air conditioning for at least 30 minutes listening to an “unusual” engine roar, while some children vomited from the overbearing heat, until staff faced with rising anger let them disembark.
After the passengers waited on the tarmac for about 30 minutes, they were told to board again while an engine was checked.
Caroline said she queried a staff member and received a defensive response.
“He just showed me the flight permit that he had signed and he said the problem had been settled,” she said. “He treated me like a passenger full of disturbing dramas even though what I was asking represented friends and confused tourists who didn’t understand Indonesian.”
On Tuesday, distraught family members struggled to comprehend the sudden loss of loved ones in the crash of a new plane with experienced pilots in fine weather.
Many went to a police hospital where authorities asked they provide medical and dental records and samples for DNA testing to help with identification of victims.
Risko, who uses a single name, wept outside the building as he waited with relatives.
“My father was onboard but we still don’t know. We’re still hoping for the best because there hasn’t been an official statement from Lion Air. So we’re still hoping for the best,” he said.
Experts from Boeing Co. were expected to arrive in Jakarta today to help with the accident investigation, Indonesia’s National Transportation Safety Committee said. The Transport Ministry has ordered an inspection of all Boeing 737 MAX 8 planes in Indonesia.
Air accident investigator Ony Suryo Wibowo told a news conference that officials have only a small amount of information so far and don’t know if it’s correct. He implored the public to be patient.