Cooperation Continues

KOMPAS/PRIYOMBODO

Luggage salvaged from flight JT-610 was transported to the JICT 2 dock, Tanjung Priok Port, North Jakarta, on Tuesday. Search and rescue personnel are continuing their search for the victims and flight recorder of the downed plane.

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JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The search for victims and the fuselage of Lion Air flight JT-610, which crashed on Monday (29/10/2018), continued on Tuesday. Joint team personnel combed Karawang waters, Karawang regency, West Java, to get the best results.

The search area was expanded on Tuesday. Up to 812 personnel of the joint team and various types of equipment had been deployed. Any findings in the waters were directly brought to the dock of the Jakarta International Container Terminal (JICT) in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta.

Whenever a boat berthed at JICT, team member of the National Search and Rescue (Basarnas), Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) team of the National Police, Indonesian Red Cross, the Indonesian Military (TNI) and other institutions gathered to help upload bags of body parts and belongings being discovered from the boat.

The bags of the body parts were handled by the DVI team and immediately rushed to the Polri Kramat Jati Hospital, East Jakarta. Meanwhile, bags consisting of airplane debris were handled by the National Transportation Safety Commission (KNKT).  Identity cards and luggage belonging to the plane passengers were collected at the JICT area and guarded by authorized officers.

Before sunset, diving activities in search for the victims and fuselage were stopped. However, the search activities continued to be conducted 24 hours a day by watching the sea surface and operating detection tools on the ships.

West Java Police Chief Insp. Gen. Agung Budi Maryoto said search activities were divided into zones, each covering 3 nautical miles (5.5 kilometers). A lot of debris was found, but the fuselage still could not be found. The sea around the incident site was muddy, thereby hindering the visibility of the divers and sonar detection. “The mud was apparently upraised due to the strike of the plane,” Agung Budi said.

Head of the Bandung Search and Rescue Office Deden Ridwansyah explained that during the day the divers were hindered by strong winds which led to the waves of up to 1-2 meters in height.

Besides the natural condition, the provision of logistic during the search activities had not been conducted in an integrated way. One of them was the supply of fuel for the rubber boats.

The nearest gas station is located 20 kilometers from Tanjung Pakis beach. The width of the road to the gas station was no more than 4 meters. Many parts of the road are damaged. According to Deden, each rubber boat needed refueling for three times a day.

“We have our own supplies, but the quantity is limited. We need assistance from the Karawang regency administration so as to enable the team members to focus on the search activities,” Deden said.

President Joko Widodo gave support to the search and rescue team by visiting the integrated victim evacuation command post in Tanjung Priok Port.

Meanwhile, from the physical inspection on the parts of the bodies, there was no indication of burning. “What is clear is that there is no indication of burning on the bodies we examined. It means the airplane possibly did not explode,” said Polri Kramat Jati Hospital Sr. Comr. Musyafak.

Investigation on the plane

The Transportation Ministry will investigate the Lion Air plane accident based on the black box. One thing which needed clarification is why the pilot of the plane asked to return to the base just after takeoff.

As an initial step of the investigation, Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi asked Lion Air and Garuda Indonesia, which operate the Boeing 737 Max 8 planes, to inspect their planes. Lion Air is now operating eight Boeing 737 Max 8 planes, while Garuda Indonesia one.

The Transportation Ministry also opened the possibility to do the investigation jointly with the Boeing producer. “In these weeks, Boeing is present. The plane manufacturer has its information so that we give the opportunity to do the investigation. However, we as a regulator also have the right to do the investigation,” he said.

Basarnas Chairman Vice Marshall Muhammad Syaugi said that the search and rescue team is still searching for the black box. The search coverage was extended from 5 nautical miles or 9.26 kilometers to 10 nautical miles (18.52 kilometers).

Vice President Jusuf Kalla said that the Lion Air accident should awaken all parties to strengthen discipline in the application of inspection and maintenance regulations of the airplanes. “The checking by the company itself and by the regulator (Transportation Ministry), in this case, has to be better,” Kalla said.

Indonesia, according to Kalla, has been relatively strict in applying the air transportation regulations, especially when the European Union banned Indonesian airlines to the EU territory since 2007. The ban was imposed because the flight safety regulations were not met. After various improvements, in June 2018, EU lifted the ban.

Head of the Public Relation Division of the National Police Insp. Gen. Setyo Wasisto expected the public not to use the Lion Air accident to produce and spread hoaxes in the social media. The presence of baseless news makes the public in  general to feel uncomfortable and shows the absence of empathy to the families of the victims.

Mourning

The Bangka Belitung provincial administration has set a period of mourning until Thursday (1/11/2018). At least 48 civil servants of the province were registered as the victims of the accident. On Monday nearly all government offices in Pangkal Pinang city hoisted the half-mast flags as an expression of sorrow.

Through a circular number SE-20/MK.1/2018, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati instructed all civil servants of the Finance Ministry to wear black and white clothes as well as black ribbon as an expression of grief until Friday. Up to 21 civil servants of the Finance Ministry died in the accident.

(AYU/MTK/NIA/RTG/TAM/RAM/SPW/INA/SAN/LAS/ZAK/EDN/E03/E04/E05/E06/E18/E19)