Category: ASEAN News

The authorities hope that data from the black boxes can give vital clues on the possible cause of the crash….reports Asian Lite News

Indonesian search teams have retrieved one of the two “black boxes” from the ill-fated Boeing 737 plane that crashed into the Java Sea on Saturday, killing all 62 people on board.

The flight data recorder was brought ashore, but the teams are still trying to locate the cockpit voice recorder, the BBC reported on Tuesday citing officials.

The authorities hope that data from the black boxes can give vital clues on the possible cause of the crash.

The 26-year-old aircraft passed an airworthiness inspection last month.

It was still functioning and intact before it crashed, preliminary results showed.

Flight SJ182 was en route from the capital Jakarta to the city of Pontianak on Borneo island.

Separately, Indonesian police have identified the first victim – Okky Bisma, a 29-year-old flight attendant.

Indonesia’s transport ministry on Tuesday said the aircraft had been grounded during the pandemic, and passed an inspection on December 14.

It made its first flight five days later with no passengers before resuming commercial flights on December 22.

The National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) said that preliminary findings showed that the plane had reached the height of 10,900ft (3.3 km) at 2.36 p.m. local time on Saturday (07:36 GMT), then made a steep drop to 250ft at 14:40, before it stopped transmitting data.

KNKT head Soerjanto Tjahjono added that the plane’s turbine disc had been found with a damaged fan blade – ruling out the theory that the plane had exploded mid-air.

“The damaged fan blade indicates that the machine was still functioning when it crashed. This (is) also in line with the belief that the plane’s system was still functioning when it reached 250 ft,” said Soerjanto in a written statement to reporters.

Search teams are continuing to comb the waters at the crash site, trying to retrieve the cockpit voice recorder.

Earlier on Tuesday, the KNKT said a device used to locate the black boxes had experienced “technical problems or equipment damage”.

Several pieces of debris, body parts, wreckage and passengers’ clothing have already been recovered.

Some 2,600 personnel were involved in the search operation on Monday, along with more than 50 ships and 13 aircraft.

Investigators are already analysing items which they believe to be a wheel and part of the plane’s fuselage. An engine turbine has also been recovered.

Safety officials say this stage of the investigation could take up to a year.

Also read:Indonesia extends ban on foreign nationals

Search and rescue operations underway were hampered by the bad weather. Workers of Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) have found debris and cables suspected to be of the ill-fated aircraft…reports Asian Lite News

Indonesia’s Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi has confirmed the crash of a Boeing 737-500 plane of an Indonesian airlines with 62 people on board that lost contact with the air traffic controller.

At a virtual press conference held on Saturday evening, the minister said the Sriwijaya Air flight SJ-182 heading from capital city Jakarta to Pontianak city in West Kalimantan province crashed into the waters off the Seribu District in north of Jakarta, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to him, the plane was believed to have crashed near the district’s Laki Island and Lancang Island, part of the Thousand Islands chain.

The plane departed from the Soekarno-Hatta international airport in Jakarta at 2.36 p.m. local time. According to Sumadi, the last contact with the plane was made by aviation authorities four minutes after its takeoff.

Search and rescue operations underway were hampered by the bad weather. Workers of Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) have found debris and cables suspected to be of the ill-fated aircraft.

Boats and aircraft from various Indonesian agencies were involved in the search.

Sumadi said that President Joko Widodo has instructed rescue workers to maximize searching efforts.

Basarnas spokesman Yusuf Latief told Xinhua that about 100 rescue workers were at the location, and his agency has sent its ship equipped with a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to search for the wreckage of the aircraft at the sea floor.

An investigation into the plane crash was launched by the Transportation Ministry.

Earlier, Captain EKo Surya Hadi, commander of Trisula coast guard ship, told a local TV that human body parts and debris of the plane were discovered.

“We found body parts, life jackets, avtur (aviation turbine fuel) and debris of the plane,” he said.

Sumadi said that aboard the Boeing plane were 50 passengers including seven children and three babies, and 12 crew members.

On October 29, 2018, all 189 people aboard were killed after a Boeing 737 Max plane of Indonesia’s Lion Air crashed into the Java Sea shortly after taking off from Jakarta.

In December 2014, an AirAsia plane crashed into sea en route from Indonesia’s second biggest city Surabaya to Singapore, killing all 162 people aboard.

Also read:Indonesia to close borders over new Covid strain

The regulation exempts foreign state officials at the level of ministers and above, who are required to apply tight protocols to prevent further Covid-19 transmissions,said Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi…reports Asian Lite News

The Indonesian government announced the temporary closure of entrances for foreign nationals from all countries on January 1-14, 2021, due to the emergence of a new virus variant that causes Covid-19.

The regulation exempts foreign state officials at the level of ministers and above, who are required to apply tight protocols to prevent further Covid-19 transmissions, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi told a virtual press conference on Monday following a limited cabinet meeting, Xinhua news agency reported.

Foreigners who arrive in Indonesia on Monday (December 28) till December 31 are still allowed to enter the country by showing negative results of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests conducted in their countries of origin.

The test results shall be valid for 48 hours since their departure, and there will be re-examination of PCR upon their arrival in Indonesia.

If proven negative in both the PCR tests, the foreigners are required to do a mandatory quarantine for five days, and after that they must return to undergo PCR tests.

If the tests show negative results, the foreigners are allowed to continue their trips, the minister said.

Meanwhile, all the Indonesian nationals who want to return from abroad are allowed to enter the country by conducting the same PCR tests.

Also read:Indonesia imposes tougher virus curbs

Jakarta’s Deputy Governor Ahmad Riza Patria also emphasized that there would be no year-end celebrations in the capital city this year…reports Asian Lite News

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Indonesia has imposed stricter restrictions until January 8, 2021 to prevent a spike in Covid-19 cases after the Christmas and year-end holiday seasons, officials said on Sunday.

Coordinating Minister for Maritime and Investment Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said the number of daily cases and deaths rose after long holidays at the end of October this year, especially in Jakarta, West Java, Central Java, East Java, South Sulawesi, North Sumatra, Bali and South Kalimantan, reports Xinhua news agency.

“Previously, the trend of the cases in these areas had decreased,” Pandjaitan, concurrently a deputy chairman of the National Committee for the Covid-19 Mitigation and Economic Recovery, told a meeting with ministers and regional heads.

Every year in Indonesia, there is an exodus of people who work in major cities returning to their villages or towns of origin for family gatherings or just travelling during the Christmas and year-end holidays.

This time, to deal with the exodus during the pandemic, the government has banned celebrations and gatherings of more than five people in public areas, and limited hours of service activities.

Jakarta’s Deputy Governor Ahmad Riza Patria also emphasized that there would be no year-end celebrations in the capital city this year.

The Jakarta administration has also limited operational hours for offices, malls, cafes, restaurants, places of interest and tourist attractions to 7 p.m. local time with a maximum capacity of 50 per cent each.

The central government also required people travelling to Jakarta and Yogyakarta province during that period to show negative antigen rapid test results.

National Cocid-19 Task Force’s spokesperson Wiku Adisasmito said the rise in the COVID-19 cases did not only occur during the long weekend last October but also happened after the Eid al-Fitr holidays in May and the Independence Day vacation in August this year.

The spike in the cases could trigger next impacts such as fully occupied hospitals and increases in medical workers’ burdens, Adisasmito said.

Meanwhile, the occupancy rates of isolation rooms and intensive care units at hospitals in several areas have exceeded 70 per cent due to the soaring number of daily cases.

Adisasmito noted that the average active cases in December were recorded at 14.39 per cent of the total cases, up from 13.78 per cent last month.

So far, Indonesia has recorded a total of 657,948 cases, the highest in Southeast Asia, with 536,260 recovered patients and 19,659 fatalities.

Meanwhile, President Joko Widodo said the government would provide free Covid-19 vaccines to al citizens.

The President also emphasised that he would be among the first to be vaccinated in Indonesia to convince the public that the vaccine is safe.

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