A Sriwijaya Air plane, Flight SJ182, reported missing shortly after taking off from Soekarno Hatta Airport, Jakarta en route to Pontianak, earlier today, January 9, 2021, is feared to have crashed in the waters of the Seribu (Thousand) Islands, Jakarta.
Metro Jaya (Jakarta) police chief Yusri Yunus was quoted by local media as saying that there was preliminary information from fishermen in the area who claimed that the plane crashed in the waters.
According to a local television report, which broadcast a video recorded by the fishermen, it showed they (fishermen) found some small debris floating in the waters.
“Currently, the search and rescue (SAR) operation involving various agencies has been deployed to the location,” said Yusri.
As of 7 pm (West Indonesia time), there has been no official statement from the Ministry of Transport or Sriwijaya Air airline, regarding the fishermen’s allegation that the plane is believed to have crashed in the waters.
The Boeing 737-500 aircraft, carrying 62 passengers including five crew members, was reported to have lost contact with the control tower shortly after departure at 2.36 pm (West Indonesia time).
The aircraft’s last contact with the control tower was at 2.40 pm and it was scheduled to arrive in Pontianak, at 4.15 pm (West Indonesia time).
What we know so far:
- The plane took off from Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta Airport at about 2:36 p.m (7:36 UTC)
- The flight last made contact around 2:40 p.m.
- There were 62 people on board, including several children.
- The flight was bound for the city of Pontianak, northwest of Jakarta.
- The plane lost more than 3,000 meters (10,000 feet) of altitude in less than a minute, according to FlightRadar24.
- The plane model was an older Boeing 737-500.
Officials suspect the plane crashed
Bambang Suryo Aji, a senior official at the country’s national search and rescue agency, told AFP that the plane had likely gone down.
“We deployed our team, boats and sea riders to the location suspected to be where it went down after losing contact,” the official said.
The Regent of the Thousand Islands chain said he had information that “something fell and exploded on Laki island,” in comments to Indonesian newspaper Merdeka.
Previously, the Soekarno-Hatta Airport Branch Communications Manager Haerul Anwar said that the Sriwijaya Air plane had lost contact around Lancang Island — part of the Thousand Islands chain.
Local media reports said fishermen spotted metal objects believed to be parts of a plane in the Thousand Islands area.
Unconfirmed images of small debris fished from the water were broadcast by local media.
“We found some cables, a piece of jeans, and pieces of metal on the water,” CNN Indonesia quoted security official Zulkifli as saying.
A patrol boat from the Ministry of Transportation found possible human body parts and oil near to the reported site of a crash, reported local news outlet Kompas.
Indonesian TV footage showed relatives and friends of those aboard the plane weeping, praying and hugging each other as they waited for information at airports in Jakarta and Pontianak.
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