‘189 dead’ as jet crashes into sea
Plane came into operation in August RESCUERS fear there were no survivors when a new plane crashed into the sea with 189 people on board, soon after take-off in Indonesia yesterday.
One baby and two children are thought to be among the dead on the low-cost Lion Air Boeing 737 flight from the capital Jakarta.
Six bodies have so far been recovered and relatives are being asked to identify victims from remains and personal possessions, which included a baby’s shoes, found in the sea.
One distraught woman told a sobbing girl at the airport: “Be patient, pray the best for papa.”
The pilot had asked for permission to return to the airport but contact was lost with ground staff 13 minutes after take-off. The new plane had been in operation since August.
Rescuers said they had retrieved human remains from the crash site, which is nine miles off the coast.
Operational director Bambang Suryo said: “We need to find the main wreckage. I predict there are no survivors, based on the body parts we have found so far.” Rescuer Agus Nugroho added: “We have found flakes from the plane and also parts of bodies from passengers. We will keep searching for the main body of the plane.”
Flight JT610, which left at 6.20am, was expected to arrive at the city of Pangkal Pinang an hour later.
Soerjanto Tjahjono, head of Indonesia’s transport safety committee, said an investigation is under way as to why the pilot wanted to return.
He said: “We’re still trying to figure out the reason. We hope the black box is not far from the main wreckage so it can be found soon.”
Lion Air chief executive Edward Sirait said the plane had an unspecified “technical issue” on a previous flight, but he said that this had been “resolved according to procedure”.
He refused to go into details of the problem but said the issue had not affected any other aircraft in its fleet.
Lion Air had operated 11 Boeing 737 MAX 8s and said there were no
plans to ground the rest. The latest model is an updated version of the single-aisle jet which is more fuelefficient.
Around 23 government officials, four employees of state tin miner PT Timah and three employees of a subsidiary were on the plane.
An airline official also confirmed that one Italian passenger and an Indian pilot were on board.
Sony Setiawan, a finance ministry official, missed the doomed flight because of traffic, but six colleagues were among passengers. He said: “The first time I heard I cried. I know my friends were on that flight.”
The accident is the second worst air crash in the history of Indonesia.
In 1997, a Garuda Indonesia A300 crashed in the city of Medan, killing 214 people.
Indonesian president Joko Widodo said authorities were focusing on the search and rescue, and he called for the country’s prayers and support.
In a statement, Boeing said it was deeply saddened by the loss, and was ready to offer technical assistance for the investigation.
Budget airline Lion Air, which was founded in 1999, suffered its only previous fatal accident in 2004, when an MD-82 crashed upon landing at Solo City killing 25 of the 163 on board.