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JAKARTA: Indonesia’s top military official said on Sunday (January 10) that search and rescue personnel have detected emergency signals from the black boxes of the Sriwijaya Air plane that disappeared the day before.
“We are confident that they will be recovered soon,” Indonesian military chief General Hadi Tjahjanto told a press conference at the Jakarta International Container Terminal, where rescue efforts are coordinated.
Tjahjanto did not specify the exact deadline.
He added that the “precise location” of the aircraft has also been determined, at a depth of 23 meters, not far from where it disappeared from radar screens.
“At this very moment all the military personnel (involved) are approaching the place,” he said.
READ: ‘Waiting for a miracle’: Anxious wait for friends and family after Sriwijaya Air plane disappeared in Indonesia
READ: Indonesia’s Sriwijaya Air plane crashes after takeoff with 62 on board
Indonesia’s National Transportation Safety Committee said it has recovered radar data and the recordings and transcripts between the SJ 182 pilot and the air traffic controller.
“We have also interviewed the air traffic controller in charge of managing the flight path of the plane,” said Nurchayo Utomo, head of the aviation subcommittee of the Indonesian National Committee for Transport Safety (KNKT).
Utomo added that several debris recovered from the sea has been identified as aircraft instruments, including the ground proximity warning system and part of an aircraft’s emergency door.
The KNKT has also received offers from its Singapore counterpart, the Bureau of Transportation Safety Investigation, to help find the black boxes and has coordinated with the United States National Transportation Safety Board to assist with the investigation.
“The KNKT is still asking the government for permission to bring these international researchers here, as there is a ban on foreigners coming to Indonesia until January 14,” Utomo said.
READ: Sriwijaya Air Crash Puts Indonesian Aviation Safety Under New Spotlight
The plane, bound for Pontianak in West Kalimantan, disappeared into the Java Sea just minutes after taking off from Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport at 2.36pm local time (3.36pm Singapore time) on Saturday.
There were 62 people on board, including 12 crew members and 10 children. The flight was scheduled to land in Pontianak around 4.15pm.
“The control tower’s last contact with the plane was at 2:40 p.m., before contact was lost,” a spokesman for the Indonesian Ministry of Transport said on Saturday.
“We will help Basarnas (Search and Rescue Agency) to recover the remains and debris of SJ 182,” added Tjahjanto. “We have been able to recover small pieces, but for the larger pieces, we will deploy ships equipped with cranes to lift them.”
READ: More debris found as Indonesian authorities race against time to search for missing Sriwijaya Air plane
Authorities said Sunday they found debris of what they suspect belongs to the plane, including parts of the plane’s registration number and clothing.
Rescue personnel also recovered five bags of human body parts, which were sent for identification.
This is the first major plane crash in Indonesia since 189 passengers and crew members were killed in 2018 when a Lion Air Boeing 737 Max also sank in the Java Sea shortly after take-off from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.
