Crew on Indonesian passenger jet ‘did not declare emergency’ before crash

The crew of an Indonesian passenger jet that crashed off Jakarta did signal an emergency before it plunged into the sea, black box recordings reveal.

More human remains and wreckage from the plane crash of flight SJ182 off the Jakarta coast are being discovered. Picture: Supplied

The crew of an Indonesian passenger jet that crashed off Jakarta at the weekend with 62 people aboard did not declare an emergency, or report technical problems, before it suddenly plunged into the sea, an investigator revealed.

Authorities have so far been unable to explain why the 26-year-old plane crashed just four minutes after takeoff, but say they’ve pinpointed the location of the black boxes.

A recording of conversations with air traffic control pointed to routine exchanges, and there was no communication as the Sriwijaya Air Boeing 737-500 plunged about 10,000 feet (3,000 metres) in less than a minute before slamming into the Java Sea, said National Transportation Safety Committee investigator Nurcahyo Utomo.

A Sriwijaya Air Boeing 737-300, a similar model to the Indonesian airline's Boeing 737-500 operating as flight SJY182 that lost contact during a flight from Jakarta to Pontianak. Picture: AFP

“It’s like a normal conversation and nothing suspicious,” he said. “There’s no talk of an emergency or something like that.” The preliminary data suggested it was “most likely” the plane was intact when it hit the water, he added.

“But we don’t know at this stage” what caused the crash, Utomo said.

There were 62 Indonesian passengers and crew aboard the half-full flight, including 10 children.

The jet’s captain, Afwan – a 54-year-old father of three who like many Indonesians goes by one name – was a former air force pilot with decades of flying under his belt, according to local media.

Some of the 2,600 personnel working in the recovery effort involving dozens of boats and helicopters are hauling body parts, twisted piece of wreckage and passengers’ clothing from shallow waters about 23 metres (75 feet) deep.

Body bags filled with human remains were being taken to a police morgue where investigators hope to identify victims by matching fingerprints or DNA from their remains to living relatives.

The search and rescue agency said it had collected body bags filled with human remains, as well as debris from the wreckage, in waters about 23 metres (75 feet) deep.

The discovery of the position of the two black boxes was confirmed by Indonesia’s head of the national transport commission (KNKT), Mr Soejanto Tjahjanto.

“We have located the position of both of them and divers are searching for them,” Mr Tjahjanto said.

According to Bloomberg, in a text Mr Tjahjanto concluded the jet broke apart on impact with the water, rather than in mid-air.

Search and rescue teams conduct operations at sea near Lancang island on January 10, 2021, where a Sriwijaya Air Boeing 737-500 crashed. Picture: AFP

The transport minister said on Saturday that the jet appeared to deviate from its intended course just before it disappeared from radar, AFP reports.

“The aircraft’s final moments are … very concerning as the speed that (it) was flying at that altitude was much lower than expected,” said Stephen Wright, professor of aircraft systems at Finland’s Tampere University.

“The last seconds saw the aircraft rapidly descend from 10,000 feet to the sea in a matter of 20 seconds, which implies a catastrophic event or something deliberate.”

But he added that the crash can “only be fully explained once the black boxes and wreckage can be properly analysed”.

Indonesian investigators examine debris from Sriwijaya Air flight SJ182 on January 10, 2021 in Jakarta, Indonesia. Picture: Getty Images

Rescuers bring up one of the engines recovered from the crash site of Sriwijaya Air flight SJ182. Picture: AFP

MUM’S FINAL MESSAGE BEFORE CRASH

A mother posted a heartbreaking final message to Instagram sitting with her children on board the doomed Indonesian flight SJ182 before it crashed into the sea.

Rathi Windania posted pictures of three laughing children before boarding the 26-year-old doomed Boeing 737-500 crashed into the sea carrying 62 passengers and crew members just minutes after takeoff.

Windania posted the pictures from Jakarta’s airport alongside the message: “Bye bye family. We’re heading home for now,” with two emojis blowing kisses.

Flight 182 passenger Rathi Windania and her children on board the plane before it crashed. Picture: Instagram

According to The Sun, Windania’s brother Irfansyah Riyanto rushed to the Soekarno Hatta airport on Saturday night in a desperate attempt to gain information on the flight carrying his sister and four other family members, including his parents.

He said his relatives had originally planned to take an earlier flight operated by Sriwijaya’s unit NAM Air, but they changed plans.

His sister and her two children were returning home to Pontianak on the island of West Kalimantan, after a three-week holiday.

“I was the one who drove them to the airport, helped with the check-ins and the luggage … I feel like I still can’t believe this and it happened too fast,” Irfansyah said.

Rescue workers carry recovered debris and body parts at the port in Jakarta on January 10, 2021, during the search operation for Sriwijaya Air flight SJY182. Picture: AFP

Passengers Ihsan Adhlan Hakim and his new bride Putri were headed to Pontianak, the city on Indonesia’s section of Borneo island which had been flight SJ182’s destination, about 90 minutes away.

“He called me to say that the flight was delayed due to bad weather,” Hakim’s brother Arwin said from Pontianak, where a wedding celebration had been planned.

“That was the last time I had contact with him.”

Beben Sofian, 59, and her husband Dan Razanah, 58, were also on the doomed flight. “They took a selfie and sent it to their kids before taking off,” the couple’s nephew, Hendra, told AFP.

DNA from relatives will be compared with discovered remains for identification. All 62 passengers and crew aboard the half-full flight were Indonesian. The count included 10 children.

Distraught relatives waited nervously for news at Pontianak airport. “I have four family members on the flight — my wife and three children,” said a sobbing Yaman Zai.“(My wife) sent me a picture of the baby … How could my heart not be torn into pieces?”

An official of the National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) inspects one of the engines recovered from the crash site of Sriwijaya Air flight SJ182. Picture: AFP

RADAR CONTACT LOST FOUR MINUTES AFTER TAKEOFF

Sriwijaya flight 182 crashed off the coast of Pulau Seribuon on Saturday – a marine national park off the coast of Jakarta.

According to the head of Indonesia’s search and rescue agency, Air Marshal Bagus Puruhito, human remains of the 62 victims and fuselage debris is constantly being recovered from the Java Sea.

Recovery teams and Indonesia’s elite military diving unit are working relentlessly from a navy ship base with multiple other vessels and have retrieved 10 bags containing the victim’s body parts and clothing, 16 large aircraft parts and 10 bags containing small parts.

Members of Indonesia's national search and rescue organisation search for Sriwijaya Air flight SJY182 at the search and rescue command post in Jakarta, Indonesia. Picture: Getty Images

“Our priority tomorrow is to focus on finding the black boxes and on evacuating victims’ bodies,” he said.

The flight took off from Jakarta at 2.37pm local time, carrying 62 people including seven children and three babies plus crew, according to a flight manifest acquired by News Corp. No Australians are believed to be on the flight.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has spoken of the distress of the disaster.

Search and rescue efforts have recovered plane and body parts from the SJ182 crash. Picture: Supplied

Parts of a plane have been found in Jakarta Bay by a rescue team on the same day an Indonesian flight, SJ182 went missing from the flight radar.

“I have received a report regarding the crash of the Sriwijaya SJ182 and convey my deep sorrow to the families of the victim and the nation. I have ordered the Minister of transportation, the head of Basarnas (National Search and Rescue Agency) assisted by the National Police and the TNI to carry out extensive operations to search and rescue victims as soon as possible. We’ll do our best with this important exercise. We pray that the victims can be found soon,” President Jokowi said.

Debris suspected to have come from crashed flight SJ182, Indonesia. Picture: Supplied

Debris thought to be from commercial flight SJ182. Picture: Supplied

Indonesia’s Air Chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto said: “We have received two bags. The first bag contains passenger properties. One bag contains body parts. This is what we are identifying. Our target is to evacuate the victims”.

Indonesia’s elite military divers have found several parts of aircraft debris.

SJ182 wreckage

Parts of the downed plane

“We have recovered a life vest jacket and other debris that is the same colour as the fuselage of flight 182 and there are pieces of registration.

“The objects were found at a depth of 23 meters. The visibility in the water is clear enough and the dive can continue,” Chief Marshal Tjahjanto said of the massive search and rescue operations that is underway from the Rigel Nav ship.

Radar contact with the aircraft was lost about four minutes after departure and ADS-B flight tracking services showed the aircraft making a rapid descend after reaching an altitude of 3200 metres.

Before disappearing from contact, the Boeing 737-524 aircraft last registered an altitude of just 72 metres, according to FlightRadar 24 data – a worldwide real-time flight tracker and mapping app.

Indonesian authorities have launched a search and rescue operation through the KNKT transport authority and the Basarnas rescue agency.

Relatives of Sriwijaya Air flight SJ 182 arrive at the crisis centre in Soekarno Hatta Airport, on January 09, 2021 in Jakarta. Picture: Oscar Siagian/Getty Images

Relatives of passengers on board missing Sriwijaya Air flight SJ182 wait for news at the Supadio airport in Pontianak on Indonesia's Borneo island on January 9, 2021, after contact with the aircraft was lost shortly after takeoff from Jakarta. Picture: Louis Anderson / AFP

Local Indonesian television footage showed relatives and friends of passengers on-board the budget airline jet weeping, praying and hugging each other as they waited at Jakarta and Pontianak airports, according to AP.

Parts of the plane have washed up off the coast of Jakarta. Picture: Supplied

Parts of a plane have been found in Jakarta Bay by a rescue team on the same day an Indonesian flight, SJ182 went missing from the flight radar. Picture: Supplied

At this point, we can’t confirm the debris found are belonging to the Sriwijaya Air #SJ182 Boeing 737-500 https://t.co/gjxIxEX22N pic.twitter.com/O0owTnCF2K

— AIRLIVE (@airlivenet) January 9, 2021

We’re receiving videos and images transferred by the the rescue team #SJ182 https://t.co/gjxIxEX22N pic.twitter.com/Z25P4dfZOt

— AIRLIVE (@airlivenet) January 9, 2021

The flight path of SJ182

Embattled aerospace company and manufacturer of commercial jetliners Boeing has acknowledged the crash in a tweet:

We are aware of media reports from Jakarta, and are closely monitoring the situation. We are working to gather more information.

— Boeing Airplanes (@BoeingAirplanes) January 9, 2021

In October 2018, 189 people were killed when a Lion Air Boeing 737 MAX jet crashed into the Java Sea about 12 minutes after takeoff from Jakarta on a routine one-hour flight.

That crash, and a subsequent fatal flight in Ethiopia, saw Boeing hit with $2.5 billion in fines over claims it defrauded regulators overseeing the 737 MAX model, which was grounded worldwide following the two deadly crashes.