INDONESIA PLANE CRASH — 189 PEOPLE FEARED DEAD
No sign of survivors from Indonesia flight with 189 on board
A passenger plane carrying 189 people has crashed into the sea off Jakarta, minutes after take-off. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said there was no indication there were any New Zealanders or board. A search and rescue effort was last night launched for the Boeing 737-800 plane which departed Jakarta about 6.20am local time. Indonesia’s search and rescue agency Basarnas said Indonesian authorities were last night not able to say how many people had died.
He added that body parts had been seen floating near Tanjung Karawang, where the plane is believed to have gone down, about 34 nautical miles northwest of Jakarta.
A Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson said the New Zealand Embassy in Jakarta had not had any requests for consular assistance in relation to the plane crash.
“The New Zealand Embassy in Jakarta is monitoring the situation closely and is in contact with local authorities to determine whether any New Zealanders are affected,” the spokesperson said.
“New Zealanders requiring consular assistance can call the New Zealand Embassy in Jakarta on (+ 62 21) 2995 5800.”
Currently, 321 New Zealanders were registered on SafeTravel as being in Indonesia.
ALion Air plane with 189 people on board crashed into the sea just minutes after taking off from Indonesia’s capital yesterday in a blow to the country’s aviation safety record after the lifting of bans on its airlines by the European Union and the United States.
Indonesia’s disaster agency posted photos online of a crushed smartphone, books, bags and parts of the aircraft fuselage that had been collected by search-and-rescue vessels that had converged on the area.
Lion Air said the brand-new aircraft, on a 1-hour-and-10-minute flight to Pangkal Pinang on an island chain off Sumatra, was carrying 181 passengers, including one child and two babies, and eight crew members.
Indonesian TV broadcast pictures of a fuel slick and debris field. Distraught friends and relatives prayed and hugged each other as they waited at Pangkal Pinang’s airport.
The National Search and Rescue Agency’s deputy chief, Nugroho Budi Wiryanto, said around 300 people including soldiers, police and local fishermen were involved in the search, but as of last night it had recovered no bodies — only ID cards, personal belongings and aircraft debris.
At the agency’s headquarters in Jakarta, family members turned up hoping desperately for news.
Feni, who uses a single name, said her soon-to-be-married sister was on the flight, planning to meet relatives in Pangkal Pinang. “We are here to find any information about my younger sister, her fiance, her in-law-to-be and a friend. We don’t have any information,” she said, as her father wiped away her tears. “No one provided us with any information that we need.
“We’re confused. We hope that our family is still alive,” she said.
We are here to find any information about my younger sister, her fiance, her in-law-to-be and a friend. We don’t have any information. Feni
Indonesia’s Finance Minister, Sri Mulyani, also arrived at the agency and met its chief, seeking information about 20 Finance Ministry staff who were on the flight after attending a ministry event in Jakarta.
The search-and-rescue agency said the flight ended in waters off West Java that are 30m to 35m deep.
Agency chief Muhammad Syaugi told a news conference that divers were trying to locate the wreckage.
The Boeing 737 Max 8 was delivered to Lion Air in mid-August and put in use within days, according to aviation website Flightradar24.
Malindo Air, a Malaysian subsidiary of Jakarta-based Lion Air, was the first airline to begin using the 737 Max 8 last year. The Max 8 replaced the similar 800 in the Chicago-based planemaker’s product line.
Boeing spokesman Paul Lewis said Boeing was “closely monitoring the situation” but did not provide details on the aircraft in question.
The pilot of Flight 610 had more than 6000 flying hours while the copilot had more than 5000 hours.
Indonesia’s Transport Ministry said the plane took off from Jakarta about 6.20am local time (12.20 NZT) and crashed just 13 minutes later.
Data from FlightAware showed it had reached an altitude of only 1580m.
The Transport Ministry said crisis
centres have been set up Pangkal Pinang’s airport and Jakarta’s Soekarno Hatta airport.
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 were 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.
Lion Air, a discount carrier, is one of Indonesia’s youngest and biggest airlines, flying to dozens of domestic and international destinations.
In 2013, one of its Boeing 737-800 jets missed the runway while landing on Bali, crashing into the sea without causing any fatalities among the 108 people on board.