The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Bodies and debris found after jet crash in Java Sea
All 189 people believed to have died as budget airline plane crashes soon after taking off from Jakarta
Human remains, aircraft debris and personal belongings have been retrieved from the Java Sea after a Boeing jet operated by an Indonesian budget airline crashed minutes after take-off from Jakarta, killing all 189 people on board.
The crash involved a two-month-old Lion Air plane with experienced pilots in fine weather. A top search official said no survivors are expected.
The disaster is a setback for Indonesia’s airline industry, which just emerged from decade-long bans by the European Union and the US over safety concerns.
The crash of the Boeing 737 Max 8 is the latest in a series of tragedies which have struck Indonesia this year, including earthquakes and a tsunami that killed several thousand people.
Air transport official Novie Riyanto said the flight was cleared to return to Jakarta after the pilot made a “return to base” request two to three minutes after taking off.
The plane plunged into the sea about 10 minutes later. Weather conditions were normal but the plane, which Lion Air received in August, had experienced an unspecified technical issue on its previous flight.
More than 300 people including soldiers, police and fishermen are involved in the grim search, retrieving aircraft debris and personal items such as a crumpled mobile phone, ID cards and carry-on bags from the seas northeast of Jakarta.
Search and Rescue Agency chief Muhammad Syaugi said he is certain it will not take long to locate the fuselage of the aircraft and its black box due to the relatively shallow (100-115ft) depths of the waters it plunged into.
Three specialised search ships, including one from Singapore, are to help with the search.
The jet, which was on a one-hour flight, was carrying 181 passengers, including one child and two babies, and eight crew members.
Lion Air said there were two foreigners on the plane: one of the pilots, Indian national Bhavye Suneja, and an Italian citizen.
About 20 finance ministry staff were on the flight.
The pilot of Flight 610 had more than 6,000 flying hours while the co-pilot had more than 5,000 hours, according to Lion Air.
Boeing said it is “deeply saddened” by the crash and is prepared to provide technical assistance to Indonesia’s crash probe.
The 737 Max 8 was leased from China Minsheng Investment Group Leasing Holdings, according to the official China News Service.
Lion Air president-director Edward Sirait said the plane had a “technical problem” on its previous flight from Bali to Jakarta but it had been fully remedied.
The crash is the worst airline disaster in Indonesia since an AirAsia flight from Surabaya to Singapore plunged into the sea in December 2014, killing all 162 on board.
Indonesian airlines were barred in 2007 from flying to Europe because of safety concerns, though several were allowed to resume services in the following decade. The ban was completely lifted in June this year. The US lifted a decade-long ban in 2016.