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Sriwijaya Air airplane feared crashed off Jakarta
The aircraft was heading to Pontianak, West Kalimantan, but disappeared off the radar at about 1:40 p.m.
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Indonesian soldiers are seen at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten, after Sriwijaya Air flight SJ182 with more than 50 people on board lost contact after taking off on Saturday afternoon, according to local media. (REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan)
T
he National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) has deployed personnel to the last known location of a Sriwijaya Air airplane that disappeared from radar on Saturday afternoon and is believed to have crashed off the coast of Jakarta.
“We have sent our ships to the area believed to be the crash site,” Basarnas chief Air Marshal Bagus Puruhito said in a press conference on Saturday evening.
He added that debris believed to be from the plane had been found by the Lancang Island Police in Thousand Islands regency, just off Jakarta's coast.
The press conference was also attended by Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi and National Transportation Safety Commission (KNKT) chief Soerjanto Tjahjono,
State-owned airport operator PT Angkasa Pura II (AP II) president director Muhammad Awaluddin, Airnav Indonesia president director M. Pramintohadi Sukarno and Sriwijaya president director Jefferson Irwin Jauwena were also scheduled to attend the press conference.
Sriwijaya Air flight SJ 182, a Boeing 737-500 registered as PK-CLC and dubbed Citra, took off at about 1:36 p.m. from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten, carrying 59 people, comprising 53 passengers, two flight crew members and four flight attendants, according to early media reports.
The aircraft was heading to Pontianak, West Kalimantan, but disappeared off the radar at about 1:40 p.m., just seconds after the air traffic controller contacted the plane to ask why it had gone off its intended course, Budi said at the press conference.
