According to the report of officials on duty, they have successfully located the Indonesia Sriwijaya black boxes. These are the same ones that crashed right after the Saturday takeoff and landed in the sea. The officials and the navy drivers seem very confident about being able to retrieve both the flight recorders. The operations were to resume from Monday, January 11, 2021.
Apart from the Indonesia Sriwijaya black boxes, the navy drivers have also discovered human remains and aircraft parts. The Air Boeing 737 had around 62 passengers on-board when the aircraft lost track on the way to Borneo. In one of the latest interviews, Indonesia’s transport Head, Soerjanto Tjahjono, seems very happy to announce the black boxes’ location.
In the same interview, Tjahjono also says that the divers were already gearing up for the rescue mission. Therefore, it is not long that the officials will have a definite conclusion to announce publicly. The black boxes are the cockpit sound recorder and flight information recorder. These are some of the essential devices that give vital data in aircraft crash investigations.
What are the investigators doing now?
Presently, the naval investigators are trying to go through things that can be parts of the aircraft’s wheel or fuselage. Besides, the debris that we are talking about also consists of an engine turbine. However, the most unfortunate part about the rescue operations is that there remains no hope of finding even one survivor.
According to Yusri Yunis, an Indonesian spokesperson says that the rescue agency has only submitted two bags. Out of these, there were passenger’s belongings in the first bag. In the other one, there was body part remains of the passenger and crew. However, the investigators are yet to identify all the findings. Now, the police are requesting the victims’ family members to provide dental records and DNA samples for accurate investigation results.
Indonesia Sriwijaya black boxes: what happened to the plane?
The Boeing 737, an air passenger vehicle, took off from the Jakarta International airport at 14:36 local time or 07:36 GMT on Saturday, January 9, 2021. While the control center’s crew was continually recording the aircraft’s movement, they received the last info around 14:40 local time. Along with the information, there was also a call sign that reads SJY182. The transport ministry confirms the details of this event.
Usually, a flight takes around 90 minutes to reach Pontianak. It is part of the Kalimantan province situated on the western part of the Borneo island. The flight-tracking officials state that they did not receive any distress signal. Moreover, Bagus Puruhito, Air Marshal, and national search chief state that, unfortunately, they could not do anything due to the non-receipt of any signal.
Experts analyzing the whole accident situation suggest various reasons for why there was no distress message. The most convincing is that the pilot must have been busy saving the case while losing the battle with time. From the whole set of consequences, what we find is that there was a drop of over 10,000 ft (3,000 meters) in merely a minute. The Flightradar24.com also suggests the same probability. According to a few witnesses, there was indeed a clear sound of an explosion.
Who was present on the Indonesia Sriwijaya Boeing 737?
There were around 50 passengers on-board, including three babies, seven older children, and 12 crew members. Although the aircraft’s total passenger capacity was 130, it was probably due to the COVID situation that the population was so low. According to the officials, everyone present on the flight was Indonesian nationals.
Some of the relatives of the victims are still hopeful of some positive news. They are anxiously waiting at Pontianak airport. Some of them are also staying at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport of Jakarta.
One of the women coming back at the Pontianak airport is Afrida, whose 29-year old son was on-board the flight. She states that Angga Fernanda, the son, was a seaman to get back to the province for some work. Besides, he has just become a father. So, Afrida’s last wish for her son is to be able to bury him properly.
On the other hand, people are also mourning the death of Afwan, Sriwijaya’s captain and a former air force officer. He was a famous personality, and several Indonesians state that he was a good man and a devout Muslim. According to Ferza Mahardhika, Afwan’s nephew, the man was popular for his kindness.
More information about the aircraft
As per the old registration data, the Boeing 737-500 was a 26-year old aircraft. Moreover, the officials stated zero chances of any technical glitch as the plane was in excellent condition. Surprisingly, Sriwijaya was missing only 12miles (20km) from the departure destination at Jakarta. It is also the same place where another plane accident took place in 2018.
In the earlier accident, over 189 people lost their lives when the Indonesian Lion Aircraft crashed into the ocean. Moreover, the incident took place just 12minutes away from Jakarta, just like it was for Sriwijaya. The old accident blame goes to the plane design failures and mistakes of the pilots and airlines. However, there is no clarity about how the recent incident happened.
