Little shoes tell tale of horror

PLANE: WRECKAGE HAULED FROM SEA AFTER 189 DIE

Hopes pinned on recovered ‘black box’ to reveal why new Boeing went down.

Jakarta

Seats, wheels and other parts of a crashed Indonesian Lion Air jet were hauled from the depths yesterday, as authorities analysed “black box” data that may explain why the new plane plummeted into the Java Sea, killing 189 people.

Search teams have been scouring the seabed for the fuselage of the Boeing-737 Max 8, which plunged into the sea after takeoff, despite only having been in service a few months.

“There is a lot of little debris, plane wheels, and seats – all totally destroyed and in pieces,” said Isswarto, commander of the navy’s search-and-rescue division.

Divers were searching 25m-35m deep, but have been finding fewer body parts, he said.

“They’re scattered everywhere and some may have been washed away by the current.”

Dozens of body bags containing remains have been recovered.

Search teams have also determined the location of part of the plane’s engine, authorities said.

On Thursday, one of the plane’s black boxes, which airlines are required to install in jets, was recovered as well as parts of its landing gear.

The black box could offer investigators their best chance of discovering why such a new jet crashed. The devices help explain nearly 90% of all crashes, according to aviation experts. –

Picture: EPA SAD TALE. Recovered belongings of the crashed Lion Air flight JT610 passengers at Tanjung Priok port in Jakarta, Indonesia, yesterday. The flight lost contact with air traffic controllers soon after takeoff then crashed into the sea on October 29.