Search efforts bear little fruit<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A minesweeper and sonar equipment will be used
\ntoday to search for the submerged fuselage of the SilkAir
\nairplane which crashed in South Sumatra, after efforts by divers
\nover the weekend only recovered body parts and fragments from the
\nwreckage.<\/p>\n
\"The search today bore little fruit,\" said Minister of
\nTransportation Haryanto Dhanutirto who is personally overseeing
\nthe search in Sungsang, South Sumatra.<\/p>\n
Speaking to journalists in a televised broadcast yesterday,
\nHaryanto said that sonar equipment and minesweepers would likely
\nbeen called in today to give divers a break from their exhaustive
\nsearch.<\/p>\n
Only a wing tip and the rudder have been found along with
\nsmall fragments from the plane.<\/p>\n
Although the 97 passengers and seven crew members of the
\nfateful flight have not all been declared dead, hopes of their
\nsurvival are quickly fading as search teams have only been
\nsuccessful in locating detached body parts.<\/p>\n
A SilkAir Boeing 737-300, flight number MI-185, crashed at the
\nestuary of the Musi River, near Sungsang village, north of
\nPalembang Friday.<\/p>\n
Officials refuse to speculate on the cause of the crash but
\nwitnesses, including a police officer, claim to have seen the
\nplane explode in midair.<\/p>\n
SilkAir has said the pilot made no distress calls.<\/p>\n
Divers probing the Musi River earlier said the fuselage was
\nstuck on the bottom of the river.<\/p>\n
But when a large crane mounted onto a barge was brought in too
\npull it out, divers could not locate the fuselage.<\/p>\n
\"It is likely that the fuselage may have been swept away by
\nthe strong current,\" Haryanto said.<\/p>\n
Muddy waters and strong currents have limited divers ability
\nto work underwater.<\/p>\n
An Indonesia minesweeper brought in from Surabaya and sonar
\nequipment from Singapore is ready, Haryanto added.<\/p>\n
Bodies<\/p>\n
More body parts and personal items were found by divers
\nyesterday. Not a single intact body has been discovered.<\/p>\n
\"Shards of bodies which we have been wrapped in plastic are a
\npart of a hand, skin, intestines, liver and flesh,\" Antara quoted
\nMusthopa, an officer from the South Sumatra Sea Police, as
\ndescribing in graphic detail yesterday.<\/p>\n
Personal items such as identity cards, passports, a belt, a
\nbatik shirt and a mukenah, a female Moslem dress for prayer, have
\nalso been found.<\/p>\n
In Singapore, SilkAir officials claim that the plane which
\ncrashed had an excellent maintenance record and underwent a
\nthorough check just 10 days earlier.<\/p>\n
Rick Clements, SilkAir's senior public affairs manager, was
\nquoted by AFP as saying that the plane was \"a well-maintained
\naircraft with a clean bill of health\".<\/p>\n
The plane was just 10-months old, leased and delivered in
\nFebruary 1997 to SilkAir which is a fully owned subsidiary of
\nSingapore Airlines Ltd.<\/p>\n
Clements added that the plane underwent three maintenance
\nchecks required of the plane after every 800 hours of flying
\ntime.<\/p>\n
Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Tony
\nTan vowed that his government would pursue a thorough
\ninvestigation.<\/p>\n
\"We must get to the bottom of this to find out what is the
\ncause,\" Tan said in a news briefing.<\/p>\n
According to Chan Yat, spokesman of the Civil Aviation
\nAuthority of Singapore (CAAS), there are 464 Singapore military,
\npolice, civil defense, medical, aviation officials and SilkAir
\nstaff working on the salvage operation.<\/p>\n
Chan also revealed that two Boeing investigators have been at
\nthe site since Saturday.<\/p>\n
Two representatives of the United States Federal Aviation
\nAdministration were due to arrive yesterday evening, he said
\nadding that another two members of the U.S. National
\nTransportation Safety Board (NTSB) are also set to arrive today.<\/p>\n
Reuters reported from Washington that the team would include
\nan explosives expert.<\/p>\n
But an NTSB spokesman said the inclusion of an explosives
\nexpert was routine.<\/p>\n
\"It is routine to send investigators with a wide range of
\nspecialities, including a person with a fire and explosives
\nbackground,\" NTSB spokesman Patrick Cariseo said.<\/p>\n
Friday's crash came just three months after a Garuda Indonesia
\nAirbus crashed near Medan, North Sumatra, killing all 234 on
\nboard.<\/p>\n
President Soeharto conveyed his condolences Saturday to all
\nthe relatives of victims of flight MI-185.<\/p>\n
Minister\/State Secretary Moerdiono said the head of state
\nalso instructed the local administration and people to help
\nrescue workers handle victims of the crash.<\/p>\n
\"The President has also received a preliminary report from
\nTransportation Minister Haryanto Dhanutirto about the incident,\"
\nMoerdiono said.<\/p>\n
Moerdiono said the President had also sent his condolences to
\nSingapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong who had expressed his
\ncondolences a day earlier. (mds)<\/p>",
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