Indonesia plane crash: Divers scour sea for victims
October 30, 2018
Teams are racing to recover data recorders from Lion Air flight JT610 to determine why the brand-new Boeing crashed minutes after takeoff. Reports have emerged that there were problems with the jet's previous flight.
The months-old Boeing 737 MAX 8 jet plunged into the Java Sea on Monday just 13 minutes after taking off from the capital.
Working through the night, teams uncovered more body parts and sent several body bags to identification experts. Lion Air also flew in dozens of relatives to the capital, Jakarta.
Searching for data recorders
Divers scoured the seabed, looking for the hull of the plane, which will contain the remains of the passengers as well as the jet's flight recorders — which experts hope will contain key data about why the plane went down.
Over 800 people from several agencies are taking part in the search, including remotely operated underwater vehicles and specialist ships.
"We are prioritizing finding the main wreckage of the plane using five war ships equipped with sonar to detect metal underwater," said Yusuf Latif, a spokesman for Indonesia's search and rescue agency.
Officials said they are confident that the plane's so-called black boxes will be recovered, since the plane went down in relatively shallow waters.
Reported issues with plane
Several reports have emerged that the plane experienced issues on a previous flight from Bali to Jakarta on Sunday.
Alon Soetanto, one of the passengers on that flight, told TVOne that the plane dropped suddenly several times at the beginning of the flight, causing other passengers to "panic and vomit."
Indonesian TV presenter Conchita Caroline said that prior to takeoff on Sunday, the plane was forced to return to its parking space due to a technical problem. She also said there was an "unusual" engine roar.
The chief executive of Lion Air Group, Edward Sirait, said that the plane experienced a technical problem, but that it was "resolved according to procedure."
The crash is the worst airline disaster to occur in Indonesia since an AirAsia flight crashed into the sea in December 2014, killing all 162 people on board.
The crash has also renewed concerns about safety in Indonesia's aviation industry. The country's airlines were barred from flying to Europe in 2007, but the ban was completely lifted in June this year.
Europe's major plane crashes of the 21st century
DW takes a look at a few of the most deadly and significant plane crashes in Europe in the 21st century.
Image: AP/Toshihiko Sato
European aviation disasters of the 21st century: Germanwings Airbus A320
A Germanwings Airbus A320 crashed into the French Alps on March 24, 2015 during a flight from Barcelona to Dusseldorf. All 144 passengers and six crew members were killed. A co-pilot with mental problems intentionally crashed the plane.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Malaysia Airlines flight MH17
Rebels in eastern Ukraine were accused of shooting down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 on July 17, 2014 during a flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. All 298 people on board died, 193 of them Dutch. A Dutch investigation found pro-Russian rebels shot the plane down with a Buk surface-to-air missile launched from separatist territory in eastern Ukraine.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/E. Dunand
Polish President Lech Kaczynski killed
A Polish air force plane carrying President Lech Kaczynski crashed near the Russian airport of Smolensk on April 10, 2010. A Russian and Polish investigation found pilot error during landing in thick fog caused the crash that killed more than 90 people. Jaroslaw Kaczynski (pictured), the twin brother of Lech and leader of the ruling PiS, has suggested the crash was a political assassination.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Kaminski
Air France Flight 447
An Air France flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris crashed in the Atlantic on June 1, 2009, killing all 228 people on board. It took nearly two years for the black box (pictured) to be recovered from the bottom of the ocean. The investigation found a combination of technical and pilot error caused the crash.
Image: picture alliance / dpa
Spanair Flight 5022
A Spanair MD-82 plane crashed after take-off from Madrid airport on August 20, 2008, killing 154 people. Amazingly, 18 people survived the crash and subsequent fire. The crash was caused by an improper flap and slat configuration and a failure of the pilots to follow a pre-flight checklist.
Image: AP
Pulkovo Aviation Enterprise Flight 612
A Russian passenger plane operated by Pulkovo Aviation Enterprise crashed near the eastern Ukraine city of Donetsk on August 22, 2006, killing all 170 people aboard. The plane was flying from St. Petersburg to the Black Sea resort of Anapa.
Image: AP
Helios Airways Flight 522
A Helios Airways flight from Cyprus crashed on August 14, 2005 near its destination Athens, killing all 121 on board. The crash was caused by a loss of cabin pressurization that immobilized the crew. The plane flew on autopilot until it ran out of fuel and crashed.
Image: AP
Überlingen mid-air collision
On the night of July 1, 2002, a DHL cargo plane flying near the southern German town of Überlingen struck a Russian passenger jet carrying mostly schoolchildren to Barcelona, Spain. The two men aboard the DHL plane and all 69 passengers and crew on Bashkirian Airlines Flight 2937 perished. Swiss air traffic control firm Skyguide was found to be at fault for the tragedy.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/R. Haid
SAS Flight 686
On October 8, 2001 a Scandinavian Airlines MD-87 airliner collided with a small Cessna on take-off from Milan's Linate Airport. All 114 people on the SAS and Cessna aircraft were killed, as were four people on the ground. The accident happened in thick fog. The SAS plane crashed into a hangar.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Ansa
Air France Concorde Flight
On July 25, 2000 an Air France Concorde flight from Paris to New York crashed two minutes after take-off, killing 109 people on board and four people on the ground. The crash was caused by the Concorde running over a piece of debris on the runway, which sent tire debris into part of the fuel tank that burst into flames.
