The National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) received a report on Monday morning that air traffic control had lost contact with a Lion Air flight from Jakarta to Pangkalpinang in Bangka Belitung.
A vessel traffic service officer in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, Suyadi, told The Jakarta Post that at 6:45 a.m. he received a report from a tugboat, AS Jaya II, that the crew had seen a downed plane, suspected to be a Lion Air plane, in Tanjung Bungin in Karawang, West Java.
The directorate general is coordinating with relevant authorities to conduct search and rescue operations, she said.
"The directorate general is coordinating with National Search and Rescue Agency, Lion Air as the operator, the Sea Transportation Directorate General and the Indonesian Flight Navigation Service Institution (LPPNPI) in search and rescue activities for the JT 610 plane," Sindu Rahayu of the Air Transportation Directorate General said in a statement on Monday morning.
A vessel traffic service officer at Tanjung Priok Port in North Jakarta, Suyadi, told The Jakarta Post that a tugboat crew reported to him that they saw the debris of the plane 7 nautical miles (12.96 kilometers) north of Tanjung Bungin, Karawang, West Java.
The flight was operated by Boeing 737 MAX 8 registration PK-LQP. The aircraft was delivered to Lion Air in August of this year. It is powered by two CFM LEAP-1B engines. https://t.co/Jv0z8vytv3 #JT610 pic.twitter.com/yCkR2PbMUa — Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) October 29, 2018
Flightradar24, a Swedish internet-based service that shows real-time commercial aircraft flight information on a map, tweeted on Monday morning Jakarta time that the plane was "brand new" and Lion Air received it only in August this year.
The plane was scheduled to land at Depati Amir Airport in Pangkalpinang at 7:10 a.m. Jakarta time.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2018/10/29/breaking-178-passengers-on-downed-lion-air-flight-ministry-says.html
Lion Air JT610 crash: What we know so far
A Lion Air plane heading to Depati Amir Airport in Pangkalpinang, Bangka Belitung Islands, from Jakarta crashed into the Java Sea on Monday morning. Flight JT610 was carrying 189 people, comprising 181 passengers, two pilots and six crew members.
The air traffic controllers lost contact with the plane at 6:33 a.m., shortly after it took off at 6:20 a.m. from the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten.
A vessel traffic service officer in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, Suyadi, told The Jakarta Post that at 6:45 a.m., he received a report from tugboat AS Jaya II that its crew had seen a plane — suspected to be a Lion Air aircraft — go down in Tanjung Bungin in Karawang, West Java.
A video that has gone viral on social media shows the site where the plane is suspected to have gone down. Debris is seen floating on the surface of the water as five tugboats help scour the area. The authenticity of the video has been confirmed by state-owned energy holding company Pertamina, which operates an oil rig near the site, located north of Bekasi, West Java.
A video showing the site where #Lion Air flight #JT610 from Jakarta to Pangkalpinang is suspected to have gone down on Monday morning. Debris is seen floating on the surface while five tugboats help scour the area. The video was shared by BNPB spokesman Sutopo PN, among others. The authenticity of the video has been confirmed by state-owned energy holding company Pertamina, which has an oil rig near the site north of Bekasi, West Java.
Authorities later announced that the plane had crashed into the sea 7 nautical miles (12.96 kilometers) north off the coast of Tanjung Bungin.
"We are certain that the plane crashed into the sea and is submerged at a depth of 30 to 35 meters," National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) head M. Syaugi told a press conference on Monday.
"We have located the debris about 2 nautical miles [3.7 kilometers] south of where [air traffic controllers] lost contact with the plane.”
Cause of the accident
Flightradar24, a Swedish internet-based service that shows real-time commercial aircraft flight information on a map, tweeted on Monday morning at Jakarta time that the plane was "brand new" and Lion Air received it only in August this year.
Lion Air was founded by businessman-turned-politician Rusdi Kirana, who is now the Indonesian Ambassador to Malaysia. In 2015, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo appointed him as a member of the Presidential Advisory Board.
National Transportation Safety Commission (KNKT) head Soerjanto Tjahjono said the Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft commenced operations under Lion Air in August and had 800 flight hours, which was considered normal.
Soerjanto added that a Basarnas team was searching for the plane’s black box to determine the cause of the crash.
Lion Air chief executive officer Edward Sirait told reporters that the same aircraft had experienced a “technical issue” the night before.
"This plane previously flew from Denpasar to Cengkareng [Soekarno-Hatta airport]. There was a report of a technical issue that had been resolved according to procedure," Edward said, declining to specify the nature of the technical issue.
Search and rescue (SAR) operation
Syaugi said 130 Basarnas personnel had been deployed from Jakarta and several other areas, including Bandung and Cirebon in West Java. Thirty Basarnas Special Group (BSG) personnel have also been deployed to where the plane’s debris was found.
The deputy of the Basarnas operation, Nugroho Budi Wiryanto, said that as of 12.30 p.m., his team had yet to discover any bodies from the crash.
Images released later, however, showed SAR personnel moving black body bags from the main search location.
Basarnas later said it had deployed 150 personnel, while the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Police had deployed 150.
The 300-man joint SAR team was also assisted by fishermen at sea, he added, and Basarnas would send more people to speed up the operation.
SAR efforts have so far recovered various documents from the search site, including ID cards, passports and driver's licenses. The main body of the Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft has yet to be located, but parts of the plane have been found, Nugroho said.
Compensation
State-owned insurance company Jasa Raharja has assured that all passengers aboard Lion Air flight JT610 or their next of kin would be compensated in accordance with prevailing laws and a 2017 Finance Ministry regulation.
"Jasa Raharja is ready to provide Rp 50 million [US$3,284] in compensation for those who died in the incident and cover up to Rp 25 million in hospital costs for injured victims," Budi Rahardjo, the company's director, said in a statement.
Government officials aboard
Government officials are reportedly among the passengers aboard the downed aircraft.
Finance Ministry spokesperson Nufransa Wira Sakti confirmed that 20 ministry officials were among the 178 adult passengers on the flight.
Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said they had been returning to their office in Pangkalpinang after either spending time with their families in Jakarta or attending the 72nd anniversary of Currency Day over the weekend.
One Environment and Forestry Ministry official and four from the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry were also on the flight, while reports have said that officials from the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) and the Bangka Belitung Legislative Council may also have been on board.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2018/10/29/lion-air-jt610-crash-what-we-know-so-far.html