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INDONESIA-AIRCRAFT-ACCIDENT LEAD
One ‘black box’ recovered from Indonesia jet as first funeral held
JAKARTA, Nov 1, 2018 (AFP) – A black box from the crashed Lion Air jet has
been recovered, authorities said Thursday, a find that could be critical to
establishing why a brand new jet plunged into the Java Sea shortly after
take-off, killing 189 people on board.
Divers plucked the orange data recorder from the ocean and placing it in
a plastic tub as search teams continued to scour the seabed for the fuselage
of the Boeing-737 MAX 8, which crashed off Indonesia’s northern coast on
Monday and had only been in service a few months.
There have been no survivors and only body parts have been found so far.
Relatives are desperate to be able to say goodbye to their loved ones and
the first funeral for one of the passengers held on Thursday.
But many others have yet to be located and analysts hope further victims
could still be found with the bulk of the wreckage.
“I assume that there will be a lot of bodies still strapped into the
seats,” aviation analyst Dudi Sudibyo told AFP.
Dozens of divers are taking part in the massive recovery effort along
with helicopters and ships, but authorities have all but ruled out finding
any survivors.
– Cockpit recorder still missing –
The black boxes, which airlines are required to install, offer
investigators their best chance of discovering why such a new jet crashed.
The devices record information about the speed, altitude and direction of the
plane as well as flight crew conversations.
“The good news is we have found one of the black boxes,” search and
rescue agency head Muhammad Syaugi told reporters.
Authorities say a flight data recorder was recovered, but they were still
looking for the cockpit voice recorder.
On a Jakarta dockside Thursday, Boeing and US National Transportation
Safety Board officials joined the Indonesian team in sifting through twisted
metal plane parts and piles of passengers’ torn clothing, shoes, wallets and
mobile phones.
The single-aisle Boeing plane, which was on its way from Jakarta to
Pangkal Pinang city, is one of the world’s newest and most advanced
commercial passenger jets.
Despite the name, black boxes are in fact bright orange with reflective
stripes. They are built to survive at vast depths and in extreme heat, and
are fitted with a beacon which can emit a signal for one month.
Black boxes help explain nearly 90 percent of all crashes, according to
aviation experts.
“Data from the plane — the engine, all the instruments — are recorded
there,” Sudibyo said. “If there is an anomaly, some technical problem, it is
recorded there too.”
– First funeral –
Passengers’ remains are being sent to hospital for DNA comparison to
relatives.
Forensic experts identified Jannatun Cintya Dewi as the first victim of
the crash Wednesday evening.
The 24-year-old civil servant’s coffin was carried by pallbearers through
the streets of her East Java hometown Sidoarjo on Thursday.
Dewi’s mother collapsed and had to be carried into their home, while
friends and relatives wiped away tears as the casket was laid in a freshly
dug grave sprinkled with flowers. A bowl of fruit and two palm branches lay
at one end.
Some relatives have shared heart wrenching tales of their final contact
with loved ones.
A selfie taken by a newlywed husband, Deryl Fida Febrianto, and sent to
his wife some 30 minutes before the jetliner crashed has gone viral online.
Aviation experts are puzzled by the accident but say it’s too early to
determine what caused the crash.
Lion’s admission that the jet had an unspecified technical issue on a
previous flight — as well its abrupt fatal dive — have raised questions
about whether it had faults specific to the newly released model, including a
speed-and-altitude system malfunction.
The accident has also resurrected concerns about Indonesia’s poor air
safety record which until recently saw the country’s carriers facing years-
long bans from entering European Union and US airspace.
Lion Air has been plagued by safety concerns and customer complaints over
unreliable scheduling and poor service.
The budget carrier has been involved in a number of incidents including a
fatal 2004 crash and a collision between two Lion Air planes at Jakarta’s
Soekarno-Hatta airport.
In 2014, an AirAsia crash in the Java Sea during stormy weather killed
162 people.
BSS/AFP/ARS/1633 hrs