This Monday morning started with a very tear-jerking news when an Indonesian Lion Air plane carrying 189 passengers including the 6 crew members and 2 pilots crashed in the Java Sea just a few minutes after it took off from Jakarta.
The lion air flight JT610 suddenly disappeared from the flight radar during a very short flight from Jakarta to Pangkal Pinangon, the Indonesian Island of Bangka. There were 178 adult passengers, two infants, one child, six crew members and two pilots on the flight. The pilot Bhaveya Suneja had more than 6,000 flight hours and the co-pilot Harvin had more than 5,000 flight hours.
New Boeing 737 Max 8 was sent for service just a month ago but it is also reported that the Lion Air’s CEO Edward Sirait said in an interview that the plane reported problems a night before, during its flight from Denpasar to Jakarta. But the engineer checked the problem and declared it perfect for flying.
Sirait also said that the pilots were airworthy and carried out all the preflight inspection according to the procedure.
Authorities are still searching for the remains of the plane and a video footage of the sea was filmed at the scene of the crash that showed nothing but just slick of fuels. Later some photos were uploaded on the twitter by Disaster Agency Spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho showing some debris, emergency slides and some parts of smashed mobile phones.
Search and rescue Agency Spokesperson Yusuf Latif said the plane crashed some 30 to 40 meters deep in the sea. Helicopters, boats, 250 rescuers and divers are working at the site. The frogmen are also working 35 meters deep inside the sea water.
Latest news reported that rescue workers retrieved six bodies from the site. The recovered bodies have been taken to a hospital in East Jakarta.
The director of the operation of Basarnas Bambang Suryo Aji said in a news conference that the rescue workers had also found a debris that appeared to a plane’s tail and the main wreckage is still not traced.
He said underwater robots are also being used in the search efforts and the workers are working against high waves and strong currents in an area spanning 150 nautical miles.
The flight made a request for returning to the base about 12 miles out from takeoff but it did not indicate there was an emergency and then it lost control from the air traffic controller.
The families of the passengers helplessly could only wait for further news related to the crash.
