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Debris hinders search for Sriwijaya flight recorders
Commander of the Navy’s First Fleet Command (Koarmada 1) Rear Adm. Abdul Rasyid said the search for the so-called black boxes was suspended as of 5 p.m. on Monday and was set to resume at 7 a.m. on Tuesday.
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Navy divers prepare to go under during recovery operations for the ill-fated Sriwijaya Air Boeing 737-500 passenger aircraft near Lancang Island on Sunday, following the Saturday crash of flight SJ182 into the Java Sea minutes after takeoff. (Agence France Presse/Adek Berry)
T
he authorities have yet to be able to retrieve the flight recorders from the Sriwijaya Air SJ182 passenger jet that crashed off the coast of Jakarta at the weekend despite having identified the signal indicating its location.
The National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas), along with the Navy and relevant stakeholders have been involved in a coordinated search effort to find the recorders containing flight and cockpit voice data from the aircraft.
Commander of the Navy’s First Fleet Command (Koarmada 1) Rear Adm. Abdul Rasyid said the search for the so-called black boxes was suspended as of 5 p.m. on Monday and was set to resume at 7 a.m. on Tuesday, adding that the presence of debris in the location of the search had made it difficult to immediately find the recorders.
“According to the information from the divers, there are still obstacles [in the form of] debris,” Abdul said in a televised press conference on Monday from the KRI Rigel, which, among other vessels, has been deployed to assist in the search efforts.
Abdul said signals from the black boxes were still being detected by the KRI Rigel, adding that the authorities would narrow down the search area on Tuesday in the hope of being able to find the flight recorders.
Retrieving the cockpit voice and flight data recorders will help explain why the Sriwijaya Air Boeing 737-500 plunged some 3,000 meters in less than a minute before slamming into the Java Sea. Investigators have so far been unable to say why the 26-year-old plane crashed just four minutes after takeoff from Jakarta.
The crew of the passenger jet did not declare an emergency or report technical problems before it suddenly crashed into the sea, an investigator said on Monday. A recording of conversations with air traffic control pointed to routine exchanges, and there was no communication as the Sriwijaya Air Boeing 737-500 crashed into the sea, said National Transportation Safety Committee investigator Nurcahyo Utomo.
