Indonesia: Boeing plane wreckage found in Java sea, rescue operations underway

Indonesia’s Boeing 737-500 jet which was flying with 62 people on board from the capital Jakarta to the island of Borneo has been located at a depth of 75 feet in the Java Sea a day after plane lost contact with air traffic controllers after take off. According to the latest reports, authorities said that they were hopeful they were homing in on the wreckage of Sriwijaya Air Flight 182 after they picked up a signal that came in from the jet’s flight recorder. Rescuers said that they found body parts and pieces of the plane. 

Indonesia plane crash 

Air Chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto said, “We received reports from the diver team that the visibility in the water is good and clear, allowing the discovery of some parts of the plane”. He added, “We are sure that is the point where the plane crashed. Hopefully until this afternoon the current conditions and the view under the sea are still good so that we can continue the search”. 

Read: Indonesian Transport Ministry On Missing Plane

(Rescuers carry debris found in the waters around the location where a Sriwijaya Air passenger jet has lost contact with air traffic controllers shortly after the takeoff, in Java Sea, near Jakarta, Indonesia, Sunday, Jan. 10, 2021. Image Credits: AP)

(Rescuers inspect debris found in the waters around the location where a Sriwijaya Air passenger jet has lost contact with air traffic controllers shortly after the takeoff, at the search and rescue command center at Tanjung Priok Port in Jakarta, Indonesia, Sunday, Jan. 10, 2021. Image Credits: AP)

(Members of National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS) prepare an area where debris found in the waters where a Sriwijaya Air passenger jet has lost contact with air traffic controllers will be brought to be examined, at Tanjung Priok Port in Jakarta, Indonesia, early Sunday, Jan. 10, 2021. Image Credits: AP)

As of now, there is no sign of survival. The reason for the crash is still not clear. President Joko Widod said, “I represent the government and all Indonesians in expressing my deep condolences for this tragedy. We are doing our best to save the victims. We pray together so that the victims can be found”. He also said that he had asked the National Transport Safety Committee to conduct an investigation.

Earlier on Saturday, a Boeing spokesperson said that the company is still in touch with Sriwijaya Air and is ready to support the families of the victims. ''Human body parts and debris of the plane were found,'' Captain EKo Surya Hadi, commander of Trisula coast guard ship. The flight was carrying 62 passengers, including children and had lost all the contact more than 10,000 feet of altitude in less than one minute, reported flight-tracking website Flightradar24. The rapid depletion of altitude reportedly occurred four minutes after departure from Jakarta airport. 

Read: Boeing 737 8-Max Makes Emergency Landing After ‘technical Glitch’ In One Of Its Engines

The Sriwijaya Air flight SJ-182 was operated by a Boeing 737-500 "classic", which had been in service for more than 26 years, since May 1994. According to Flightradar24, the Sriwijaya plane disappeared from the radar at 07:40:27 UTC time. The Transportation Ministry of Indonesia had informed a news channel that the flight went off the radar at 2:40 pm local time and that search and rescue operations were underway.

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(Image Credits: AP)