Newspaper Page Text
8A Tuesday, October 30, 2018
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
WORLD
INDONESIA
Plane crash search finds remains, dehris at sea
TATAN SYUFLANAI Associated Press
Members of Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency carry body bags containing
the remains recovered from the area where a Lion Air passenger jet is suspected to crash, at
Tanjung Priok Port in Jakarta, Indonesia Monday, Oct. 29.
BY NINIEK KARMINI AND
STEPHEN WRIGHT
Associated Press
JAKARTA, Indonesia —
Rescuers in inflatable boats
retrieved human remains,
pieces of aircraft and per
sonal belongings from the
Java Sea on Monday after
a new-generation Boeing jet
operated by an Indonesian
budget airline crashed min
utes after takeoff, killing all
189 people on board.
Distraught family mem
bers struggled to compre
hend the sudden loss of
loved ones in the crash of the
2-month-old Lion Air plane
with experienced pilots in
fine weather.
They gathered at crisis
centers set up by the author
ities at airports, hoping des
perately for a miracle. But
a top search official, citing
the condition of the remains
recovered, said no survivors
are expected.
The disaster is a setback
for Indonesia’s airline indus
try, which just emerged
from decadelong bans by
the European Union and the
U.S. over safety concerns.
President Joko Widodo
ordered an investigation and
urged Indonesians to “keep
on praying.”
The crash of the Boeing
737 Max 8 is the latest in a
series of tragedies that have
struck Indonesia this year,
including earthquakes and
a tsunami that killed several
thousand people.
An air transport official,
Novie Riyanto, said the
flight was cleared to return
to Jakarta after the pilot
made a “return to base”
request two to three minutes
after taking off. It plunged
into the sea about 10 minutes
later. Weather conditions
were normal but the plane,
which Lion Air received in
August, had experienced an
unspecified technical issue
on its previous flight.
Relatives and friends
wept, prayed and hugged
each other as they waited
at Jakarta’s airport and at
Pangkal Pinang’s airport on
Bangka island off Sumatra
where the flight was headed.
Some including Indonesian
Finance Minister Sri Muly-
ani headed to the search and
rescue agency’s headquar
ters in Jakarta for informa
tion. About 20 ministry staff
were on the flight.
Latief Nurbana said he
and his wife Yeti Eka Sum-
iati stayed up late Sunday
talking to their 24-year-
old son Lutfi Nuramdani,
squeezing every moment
they could from his week
end visit to Jakarta to catch
up on his life in Pangkal
Pinang.
Nurbana said they talked
until falling asleep and
Sumiati woke up early to
take their son, a post office
worker, to the airport.
“Last night, we were chat
ting together about his wife
who is now seven months’
pregnant, his plans and his
dreams with his own small
family until we fell asleep,”
he said as his wife wept and
clung to him.
“Now he’s gone. We can’t
believe that he left us this
way, we can’t believe that
his plane crashed. That’s
something we only see on
TV news, now it happened
to my son,” Nurbana said.
“We want to see his body, his
face, his remains.”
More than 300 people
including soldiers, police
and fishermen are involved
in the grim search, retriev
ing aircraft debris and
personal items such as a
crumpled cellphone, ID
cards and carry-on bags
from the seas northeast
of Jakarta.
Search and Rescue
Agency chief Muhammad
Syaugi said he’s certain it
won’t take long to locate the
hull of the aircraft and its
black box due to the rela
tively shallow 100 to 115
foot depths of the waters it
plunged into. Three special
ized search ships, including
one from Singapore, were
headed to the crash location.
The jet, on a 1-hour flight,
was carrying 181 passen
gers, including one child and
two babies, and eight crew
members.
Lion Air said there were
two foreigners on the plane:
one of the pilots, Indian
national Bhavye Suneja, and
an Italian citizen.
Friends and relatives
gathered at the pilot’s family
home in New Delhi to com
fort his immediate family.
“His father is stunned
and not in a condition to talk
or do anything. Sister and
mother have not come out.
They are distressed,” said
family friend Anil Gupta.
The pilot of Flight 610 had
more than 6,000 flying hours
while the co-pilot had more
than 5,000 hours, according
to Lion Air.
The Transport Ministry
said the plane took off from
Jakarta at about 6:20 a.m.
and crashed just 13 minutes
later. Data from FlightA-
ware showed it had reached
an altitude of only 5,200 feet.
Boeing Co. said it was
“deeply saddened” by the
crash and was prepared to
provide technical assistance
to Indonesia’s crash probe.
The 737 Max 8 was leased
from China Minsheng Invest
ment Group Leasing Hold
ings Ltd., according to the
official China News Service.
Malindo Air, a Malaysian
subsidiary of Lion Air, was
the first airline to begin
using the 737 Max 8 last year.
The Max 8 replaced the sim
ilar 800 in the Chicago-based
plane maker’s product line.
Lion Air president-direc
tor Edward Sirait said the
plane had a “technical prob
lem” on its previous flight
from Bali to Jakarta but it
had been fully remedied. He
didn’t know specifics of the
problem when asked in a TV
interview.
“Indeed there were
reports about a technical
problem, and the technical
problem has been resolved
in accordance with the pro
cedures released by the
plane manufacturer,” Sirait
said. “I did not know exactly
but let it be investigated by
the authorities.”
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