Profound Grief in Karawang

As of Monday evening, search and rescue teams were still searching for victims in waters that are 30 to 35 meters deep. The plane’s black box has not been found yet. President ordered that the search for the plane’s fuselage and 189 victims be carried out in 24 hours.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS— A Lion Air plane -- flight JT-610 that flew the Jakarta-Pangkal Pinang route -- crashed off Karawang Beach, Karawang regency in West Java on Monday. This is the first crash since last year.

As of Monday evening, search and rescue teams were still searching for victims in waters that are 30 to 35 meters deep. The plane’s black box has not been found yet.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo ordered that the search for the plane’s fuselage and 189 victims be carried out in 24 hours. “We need to work as hard as possible to find the fuselage and victims as soon as possible,” said the President at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten.

KOMPAS/RADITYA HELABUMI

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo meets the families of the victims of flight JT-610 at the VIP Room in Terminal 1B of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Tangerang, Banten on Monday. The Lion Air plane transporting 181 passengers on the Jakarta-Pangkal Pinang route crashed off Karawang Beach, Karawang regency in West Java on Monday.

The chairman of the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas), Air Marshal Muhammad Syaugi, said the first stage of the search would be conducted in the next seven days, adding that if the fuselage, victims and the black box have not been found, the search would be extended by three days, with the possibility of it being extended further.

Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said his ministry had set up three command posts after the crash, namely at the Soekarno-Hatta, Halim Perdanakusuma and Pangkal Pinang airports.

Despite no evidence of negligence on the part of state-owned air navigation firm AirNav, Budi handed over the investigation of the plane crash to the National Transportation Safety Commission (KNKT). He said the last crashed happened two or three years ago.

In June, the European Union removed Indonesia from a list of countries that were considered to have low civil aviation safety. The removal was accompanied by the lifting of a ban on flights to the EU by Indonesian airlines.

With regards to possible negligence on the part of Lion Air, Budi said he would stick to the existing regulations.

West Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Agung Budi Maryoto said officers have not found the plane’s black box due to unfavorable conditions, which hindered the visibility of divers.

The head of forensics at the National Police Hospital in Kramat Jati in East Jakarta, Sr. Comr. Edy P, said as of 7:55 p.m. on Monday, up to 18 bags containing the body parts of victim have been sent to the hospital.

Having a problem

On Sunday, it was found that the operating system of the Lion Air plane had developed a problem, however, the airline’s management said it had been solved before the plane took off.

“The technical problem the previous day was not severe because it was repaired fairly quickly,” said the CEO of the Lion Group, Edward Sirait, at the Lion Air Operations Center in Tangerang on Monday.

KOMPAS/RIZA FATHONI

Family members page through the passenger manifest at the crisis center in the Angkasa II Technical Division Building at Halim Perdanakusumah Airport in East Jakarta on Monday (29/10/2018).

Without giving details, Edward said the technical problem on the Boeing 737 MAX 8 was first discovered after its flight from Denpasar, Bali, less than 10 hours before the flight to Pangkal Pinang on Monday.

Upon arrival in Jakarta on Sunday, he added that Lion Air technicians solved the problem in line with procedures set by Boeing.

Edward admitted to not having enough evidence to link the crash to the technical problem that was discovered on Sunday. “I cannot speculate. We will prepare all data needed by related parties to investigate the cause of the plane crash,” he said.

Lion Group took delivery of the plane from the producers on Aug. 13 and its first commercial flight was on Aug. 15. Edward said the plane had flown nine to 10 hours per day.

He added that the pilot, Captain Bhavye Suneja, had 6,000 hours of flight time, while the co-pilot, Harvino, had 5,100.

The president director of AirNav, Novie Riyanto, said the last contact with the pilot of flight JT610 had been recorded at 6:32 a.m., when the pilot asked to return to base. However, he did not want to speculate on the reasons why the pilot had asked permission to turn the flight around.

AirNav said it supported the search for the black box and the investigation to uncover the cause of the crash.

Flight observer Alvian Lie said the plane’s log book noted that the plane experienced a technical problem during the flight from Denpasar to Cengkareng on Oct. 28.

“Not long after take-off, the plane’s instrument panel showed that the problem had popped up. It showed a decline in altitude. The pilot then handed over control to the co-pilot after they noticed it. Even though the panel showed the problem, the flight went ahead. Actually, the damage to the instrument panel was classified as a no go item. A plane is not allowed to fly without it,” Alvin said.

The weather on the route that flight JT610 took from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport to Pangkal Pinang was clear on Monday morning. “The weather was clear after take-off and along the flight’s route,” said Agus Wahyu Raharjo, the head of the Flight Meteorology Center at the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG).

(Kompas Team)