KARAWANG — A ******** plane crashed into the sea just minutes after taking off from Indonesia’s capital on Monday, likely ******* all 189 people onboard. The ******** was a blow to the country’s aviation safety record after the lifting of bans on its airlines by the European Union and U.S.
The search and rescue effort has recovered human remains, and based on their condition, one of its top officials said they’re not expecting to find any *********. More than 300 people including soldiers, ****** and fishermen are involved in the grim search, retrieving aircraft ****** and personal items such as a crumpled cellphone, ID cards, bags and photos from the seas northeast of *******.
The ******** involving a new plane has stunned Indonesia, and President Joko Widodo ordered the transport safety commission to investigate. He urged Indonesians to “keep on praying” as rescuers search for *******.
An air transport official, Novie Riyanto, said the flight was cleared to return to ******* 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 aircraft had experienced a technical issue on its previous flight.
******** said the ***, on a 1 hour and 10 minute flight to Pangkal Pinang on an island chain off Sumatra, was carrying 181 passengers, including one ***** and two babies, and eight crew members.
It said there were two foreigners onboard the plane: its pilot, originally from New Delhi, and an Italian citizen.
The search and rescue agency said the flight ended in waters off West Java that are 30 to 35 metres (100 to 115 feet) deep.
The agency’s chief, Muhammad Syaugi, told a news conference that divers are trying to locate the wreckage.
Weather conditions for the flight were safe, according to the Indonesian meteorology agency. It said clouds associated with turbulence were not present and winds were weak.
The ********** Max 8 was delivered to ******** in mid-August and put in use within days, according to aviation website Flightradar24. It was leased from China Minsheng Investment Group Leasing Holdings Ltd., according to the official China News Service.
Malindo Air, a Malaysian subsidiary of *******-based ********, was the first ******* to begin using the 737 Max 8 last year. The Max 8 replaced the similar 800 in the Chicago-based plane maker’s product line.
******** president-director Edward Sirait said the plane had a “technical *******” on its previous flight from Bali to ******* but it had been fully remedied. He didn’t know specifics of the ******* when asked in a TV interview. The pilot of Flight 610 had more than 6,000 flying hours while the co-pilot had more than 5,000 hours, according to the *******.
“Indeed there were reports about a technical *******, and the technical ******* has been resolved in accordance with the procedures released by the plane manufacturer,” he said. “I did not know exactly but let it be investigated by the authorities.”
Boeing Co. said it was “deeply saddened” by the ***** and was prepared to provide technical assistance to Indonesia’s ***** probe.
The Transport Ministry said the plane took off from ******* at about 6:20 a.m. and crashed just 13 minutes later. Data from FlightAware showed it had reached an altitude of only 5,200 feet (1,580 metres).
The ***** is the ***** ******* ******** in Indonesia since an AirAsia flight from Surabaya to Singapore plunged into the sea in December 2014, ******* all 162 onboard.
Indonesian airlines were barred in 2007 from flying to Europe because of safety concerns, though several were allowed to resume services in the following decade. The ban was completely lifted in June this year. The U.S. lifted a decade-long ban in 2016.
********, a discount carrier, is one of Indonesia’s youngest and biggest airlines, flying to dozens of domestic and international destinations.
In 2013, one of its **********-800 jets missed the runway while landing on Bali, crashing into the sea without causing any fatalities among the 108 people onboard.