Jakarta\u00a0\u00a0 –\u00a0 Authorities have pinpointed the location of two black boxes from a crashed Indonesian jet, they said Sunday, referring to cockpit voice and flight data recorders that could help explain why the aircraft went down with 62 people aboard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The announcement came as divers pulled body parts, wreckage and clothing from waters off Indonesia\u2019s capital Jakarta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have located the position of the black boxes, both of them,\u201d said Soerjanto Tjahjanto, head of Indonesia\u2019s transport safety agency. \u201cDivers will start looking for them now and hopefully it won\u2019t be long before we get them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Sriwijaya Air Boeing 737-500 went into a steep dive about four minutes after it left Soekarno-Hatta international airport in Jakarta on Saturday afternoon. Indonesia\u2019s President Joko Widodo expressed his \u201cdeep condolences\u201d, and called on citizens to \u201cpray together so that victims can be found\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the frantic search involving helicopters and a flotilla of warships appeared to offer no hope of finding any survivors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The search and rescue agency said it had so far collected five body bags with human remains as well as debris from the crash site in the Java Sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A piece of child\u2019s clothing, a broken tyre and wheel, life jackets and wreckage from the plane\u2019s body were found, according to authorities and AFP reporters on the scene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Among the passengers was Beben Sofian, 59, and her husband Dan Razanah, 58. \u201cThey took a selfie and sent it to their kids before taking off,\u201d the couple\u2019s nephew Hendra told AFP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All 62 people on board, passengers and crew, were Indonesian, authorities said. The count included 10 children. There were 50 passengers — 43 adults and 7 children — on board, as well as 12 crew members, according to Indonesia\u2019s Minister of Transportation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
– \u2018Torn into pieces\u2019 –<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Distraught relatives waited nervously for news at the airport in Pontianak, the city on Indonesia\u2019s section of Borneo island which had been flight SJ182\u2019s destination, about 90 minutes flying time over the Java Sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI have four family members on the flight — my wife and three children,\u201d Yaman Zai said on Saturday evening as he sobbed. \u201c(My wife) sent me a picture of the baby today… How could my heart not be torn into pieces?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Data from FlightRadar24 indicated that the airliner reached an altitude of nearly 11,000 feet (3,350 metres) before dropping suddenly to 250 feet. It then lost contact with air traffic control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The transport minister said Saturday that the jet appeared to deviate from its intended course just before it disappeared from radar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Poor weather, pilot error or a technical problem with the plane were potential factors, said Jakarta-based aviation analyst Gerry Soejatman. \u201cBut it\u2019s way too early to conclude anything,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAfter the black box is found we can start putting the puzzle together.\u201d Sriwijaya Air, which operates flights to destinations in Indonesia and Southeast Asia, has said only that it was investigating the loss of contact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It did not immediately comment when contacted by AFP again on Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reputation for poor safety <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In October 2018, 189 people were killed when a Lion Air Boeing 737 MAX jet crashed near Jakarta. That crash — and another in Ethiopia — saw Boeing hit with $2.5 billion in fines over claims it defrauded regulators overseeing the 737 MAX model, which was grounded worldwide following the two deadly crashes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 26-year-old 737 that went down Saturday was not a MAX variant. \u201cOur thoughts are with the crew, passengers, and their families,\u201d Boeing said in a statement, adding that it was in contact with the airline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Indonesia\u2019s aviation sector has long had a reputation for poor safety, and its airlines were once banned from entering US and European airspace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2014, an AirAsia plane headed from Surabaya to Singapore crashed with the loss of 162 lives. Domestic investigators\u2019 final report on that crash said major factors included a chronically faulty component in a rudder control system, poor maintenance, and the pilots\u2019 inadequate response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A year later, in 2015, more than 140 people, including scores on the ground, were killed when a military plane crashed shortly after take-off in Medan on Sumatra island.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Jakarta\u00a0\u00a0 –\u00a0 Authorities have pinpointed the location of two black boxes from a crashed Indonesian jet, they said Sunday, referring to cockpit voice and flight data recorders that could help explain why the aircraft went down with 62 people aboard. The announcement came as divers […]<\/p>\n
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