Preliminary Investigation Report to be Published Late November
The National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) has said that it will publish a preliminary report of its investigation into the crash of Lion Air flight JT-610 in late November. A part of the flight recorder that was recovered on Thursday is being examined at the KNKT’s laboratory.
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JAKARTA, KOMPAS – The National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) has said that it will publish a preliminary report of its investigation into the crash of Lion Air flight JT610 in late November. “The report will be publicly accessible. It will contain only facts and data without any analysis or conclusion,” said KNKT investigator Ony Soerjo Wibowo in Jakarta on Thursday (1/11/2018).
Ony said both black boxes, namely the flight data recorder (FDR) and the cockpit voice recorder (CVR), would be required for investigation. If only one is recovered, the KNKT will try to find other data sources.
KNKT head Soerjanto Tjahjono said he strongly believed the part of the black box recovered on Thursday was the FDR, which contained important flight data, including aircraft speed, direction and altitude. On this Friday (2/11) the search operation will be focused on finding the CVR, which records all sounds in the cockpit, including conversations between the captain, the flight officer and any other crew members.
Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology’s (BPPT) Maritime Survey Technology Agency head Muhammad Ilyas said that he was optimistic the CVR would be recovered soon. On Thursday, he said transponders were still picking up pings believed to have come from the CVR. On Friday, the BPPT team on board the Baruna Jaya I research vessel will use an underwater positioning system to find the CVR.
Separately KNKT deputy head Haryo Satmiko said that the KNKT had met with the US National Transport Safety Board (NTSB) and aircraft manufacturer NTSB for investigation purposes.
“We have create task groups and divided duties. They will be in Indonesia for around a week. Afterwards, communications will be continued by phone and e-mail,” Haryo said.
Regarding the investigation, Haryo said that, in line with regulations, the KNKT would have up to one year to reach decisive conclusions. “Results of the analysis will be given to regulators, operators and the aircraft’s manufacturer for improvements,” he siad.
The black box was recovered by the Amphibious Reconnaissance Battalion I, a Marine elite force, on Thursday. “[On Thursday morning], we dove up to 30 meters deep, referring to coordinates given by the BPPT and bringing KNKT’s detector to locate the signals from the black box,” diver Marine First Sgt. Hendra siad.
Naval vessel KRI Rigel with its “underwater robots” ROV and AOV was involved in the search by helping in the survey and generating video imaging early on in the search.
National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) head M Syaugi said that the search efforts was going well on Thursday. Using a mooring anchor, many debris and victims’ remains could be retrieved. “The largest objects that we saw today was an aircraft wheel and a large part of the fuselage,” he siad. Cranes would be required to retrieve the objects.
In Tanjung Pakis, Karawang, the National Police’s Water and Air Police Corps chief Insp. Gen. Chairul Noor Alamsyah said that he urged local fishermen not to go near the crash and debris sites. A joint search and rescue (SAR) team has mapped out the location and divided search duties. “Fishermen have been urged to help in the search efforts on the coastline. No need for them to go to the actual crash site,” he siad.
Victim identification
As of Thursday night, the joint SAR team had delivered 65 body bags to the National Police’s Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) unit. Syaugi said that the SAR team would coordinate with other stakeholders in searching for victims’ remains.
In a press conference at the Bhayangkara National Police Hospital in Kramat Jati, East Jakarta, the hospital’s DVI unit head Adj. Sr. Comr. Lisda Cancer said that no more bodies had been identified. The condition of the remains received by the DVI unit makes it difficult to do quick identification. “We rely on DNA testing. The results will come out in four to eight days after the testing,” Lisda said.
The DVI unit had only identified one victim, namely Jannatun Cintya Dewi, 24. The condition of her remains enabled investigators to do a fingerprint check. Jannatun’s body has been handed over to her family and buried in Sidoarjo regency, East Java, on Thursday morning.
Lisda said that the DVI unit had sent in stages the 238 DNA samples from 56 body bags it had received as of Thursday evening at 7 p.m. to the National Police forensics lab for examination. The results will be announced after all samples are examined. However, Lisda gave no time fame for this announcement.
Bhayangkara Hospital deputy director Sr. Comr. Hariyanto said that the identification process was hampered by the fact that 37 victims’ relatives, out of the 189 families that had reported to the hospital, had yet to provide DNA samples.
Meanwhile, Lion Air said that it would provide compensation in the form of “wait money” for families of victims of the JT-610 crash.
Lion Air spokesperson Ramaditya Handoko said that each family is eligible for Rp 5 million (US$311.11) in wait money. Claims can be made by immediately family members, namely parents, children or spouses, at the lobby of Ibis Hotel in Cawang, East Jakarta.
Lion Air will also provide return tickets for families living outside Greater Jakarta, as well as accommodations, three meals a day and transporataion to the Bhayangkara Hospital and the Halim Perdanakusuma Airport. Psychological, medical and spiritual assistance services are also provided.