Search for SilkAir remains extended<\/p>\n
By Budiman Moerdijat<\/p>\n
PALEMBANG, South Sumatra (JP): The search for the remains of
\nthe SilkAir MI-185 airplane which was due to end today has been
\nextended for another week as investigators called in an excavator
\nto dig-up a newly detected hole suspected to be the primary
\nimpact point in the Musi River.<\/p>\n
The sonar equipment from KRI Fatahillah yesterday located a 25
\nmeter x 60 meter indent in the riverbed which investigators
\nsuspect could be the point of impact where the plane crashed last
\nweek.<\/p>\n
The three-meter deep cut crosses the direction of the river
\nhorizontally.<\/p>\n
The Commander for the Sea Defense of the Western Indonesia
\nFleet Rear Adm. Rosyihan Arsyad said heavy equipment such as an
\nexcavator would be brought in to help lift possible wreckage.<\/p>\n
Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto said here
\nWednesday evening that search operations would be extended for
\nanother week.<\/p>\n
\"The search will continue and it is our first priority,\"
\nHaryanto told a press conference at the Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin
\nII Airport.<\/p>\n
The SilkAir Boeing 737-300 plunged into an estuary of the Musi
\nRiver on Dec. 19, halfway between Jakarta and Singapore.<\/p>\n
All 104 passengers and crew are believed dead.<\/p>\n
So far an intensive search has recovered very little. No
\nintact bodies have been found and neither the main fuselage nor
\nthe flight data and voice recorder, known as the black box, have
\nbeen found.<\/p>\n
The cause of the crash is as yet unknown but it is believed
\nthe plane exploded before crashing into the river as claimed by
\nwitnesses.<\/p>\n
But chief crash investigator, Indonesia's Oetarjo Diran, said
\nWednesday his preliminary observation does not support
\nsuggestions that the plane exploded in midair.<\/p>\n
\"There is no indication that there was an explosion (before
\nthe crash),\" Diran told journalists.<\/p>\n
\"It appears the total disintegration took place when the plane
\nhit the water,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Diran said that there were plane fragments which fell before
\nthe crash and investigators would seek an explanation for this.<\/p>\n
He confirmed that several fragments fell on land more than
\nthree kilometers away from the center of the crash site in the
\nriver's estuary.<\/p>\n
\"As I said earlier (Tuesday) it is called a progressive
\nstructural disintegration,\" said Diran, who also chairs
\nIndonesia's Aircraft Accident Investigation Commission.<\/p>\n
A statement issued yesterday evening said an air sweep
\nnorthwest of the crash site had spotted a yellow object which is
\nsuspected to be the emergency chute.<\/p>\n
The emergency chute is usually attached to the emergency door
\nof the aircraft.<\/p>\n
Singapore's Education and Second Defense Minister Theo Chee
\nHean, who visited the crash site yesterday morning, admitted the
\ndifficult environment was hampering search operations.<\/p>\n
\"Divers are actually searching by feet... The current is very
\nstrong and there is a lot of silt,\" he told reporters.<\/p>\n
\"(Although) the rescuers have found several hundred pieces of
\nplane wreckage, the largest pieces are only about the size of two
\n(small) tables,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said an estimated one thousand rescuers are involved in the
\noperation, including 700 Indonesians and 300 Singaporeans. (10)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/search-for-silkair-remains-extended-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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