Debris found floating in ocean after Lion Air flight crashes off Jakarta
Haunting video has emerged reportedly showing debris from a passenger plane after it crashed into the ocean off Indonesia.
Spokesman for the Indonesian National Board for Disaster Management Sutopo Purwo Nugroho tweeted photos of debris in waters off Karawang, east of Jakarta, along with video of what’s reportedly wreckage from the aircraft.
Muhammad Syaugii from Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency said life vests, mobile phones and pieces of the plane were found.
“We don’t know yet whether there are any survivors,” Mr Syaugi told a news conference.
“We hope, we pray, but we cannot confirm.”
A tug boat leaving the capital’s port reported seeing the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft falling from the sky.
Flight JT610 took off around 6.20 am, headed to the city of Pangkal Pinang off the island of Sumatra. It had been scheduled to land at 7.20am.
The plane was carrying 181 passengers, including one child and two babies, and seven crew members, according to Mr Nugroho.
However, other reports from AAP and Reuters say eight crew members were on board bringing the total to 189.
Debris thought to be from the plane, including aircraft seats, was found near an offshore refining facility in the Java Sea, an official of state energy firm Pertamina told Reuters.
The head of Indonesia’s transport safety committee said he could not confirm the cause of the crash, which would have to wait until the recovery of the plane’s black boxes, as the cockpit voice recorder and data flight recorder are known.
No survivors expected
Human remains have been recovered from the crash site 15km off the coast.
Search and rescue head Muhammad Syaugi said no distress signal had been received from the aircraft’s emergency transmitter.
“We don’t know yet whether there are any survivors,” he said.
“We hope, we pray, but we cannot confirm.”
It’s not known if any Australians were on board.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is investigating.
“The Australian Embassy in Jakarta is making urgent enquiries with local authorities to determine if any Australians were on board the flight,” DFAT said in a statement.
Bambang Suryo, operational director of an Indonesian search and rescue agency, told reporters he didn’t think anyone survived.
“I predict there are no survivors, based on body parts found so far,” he told reporters.
Search continues as plane requested to turn back
Search and Rescue Agency spokesman Yusuf Latif said authorities were still searching for the remains of the plane.
“The plane crashed into water about 30 to 40 metres deep,” Mr Latif told AFP.
Sindu Rahayu, directorate general of Civil Aviation at the transport ministry, added the plane “had requested to return to base” before it disappeared from the radar.
Flight tracking data shows plane’s descent
Preliminary flight tracking data from Flightradar24 shows the aircraft climbed to around 5,000 feet before losing – and then regaining – height, before finally falling towards the sea.
It was last recorded at 3,650 feet and its speed had risen to 345 knots, according to raw data captured by the respected tracking website.
The plane’s last recorded position was about 15km north of the Indonesian coastline, according to the last coordinates reported by Flightradar24.
Budget carrier Lion Air is one of Indonesia’s youngest and biggest airlines, flying to dozens of domestic and international destinations.
In 2013, one of its Boeing 737-800 jets missed the runway while landing on the resort island of Bali, crashing into the sea without causing any fatalities among the 108 people on board.
Today’s incident is the first to be reported that involves the widely-sold Boeing 737 MAX.
– with AAP, Reuters and AFP
