Search for Lion Air Jet to Continue Overnight After Detection of Black Box Location
Jakarta. Officials said late on Monday evening that the search for the hull of the downed Lion Air jet would continue throughout the night, as they race against time to recover victims' bodies and the so-called black boxes.
Flight JT-610, bound for Pangkal Pinang in Bangka Belitung, crashed into the Java Sea north of Karawang district, West Java, on Monday morning, shortly after taking off from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.
The search and rescue team has so far recovered nine bodies from the crash site, located about 15 kilometers offshore.
"Seeing that some bodies were found in pieces, it's likely that all 189 on board are dead," said Bambang Suryo Aji, operations director at the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas).
"I expect many bodies are still trapped inside the hull of the aircraft, so we have to find it soon," he added.
Warm, tropical water is known to accelerate microbial activity, causing bodies to bloat. The skin also peels away after absorbing water for a week, allowing small sea creatures to eat away the flesh. Bambang said the search would last seven days, in accordance with the agency's standard operating procedure.
Basarnas has also deployed unmanned submersibles from KRI Rigel – Indonesia's newest oceanographic survey and patrol vessel – to scour the seabed for signs of the hull of the ill-fated Boeing 737 MAX 8. The aircraft is believed to be about 35 meters below the surface. A team of 60 divers has stopped diving for the night and plans to continue the search in the morning.
"I have instructed the team to continue working hard tonight to find the aircraft's hull as soon as possible," President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo said, adding that the search team had identified the location of the plane's flight data recorder, but that they have yet to reach it.
Several pieces of clothing, identity cards, luggage and pieces of aircraft debris floating near the crash site have been recovered, Bambang said.
He added that all debris would be taken to the Jakarta International Container Terminal in North Jakarta, while the bodies would be taken to the National Police Hospital in Kramat Jati, East Jakarta, for identification.
Basarnas deployed 150 personnel, assisted by 280 members of the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Police to carry out the search and rescue efforts.
Monday's crash may likely be the second most fatal plane crash in Indonesian aviation history, after a Garuda Indonesia Airbus 300 en route from Jakarta to Medan, North Sumatra, crashed into a cliff in Sibolangit before landing at Polonia Airport, in September 1997. All 234 passengers and crew on board the aircraft were killed in the accident.
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