Search teams hone in on SilkAir blackbox<\/p>\n
By Budiman Moerdijat<\/p>\n
PALEMBANG, South Sumatra (JP): Search teams have narrowed down
\ntheir search for the flight data and voice recorder, or black
\nbox, of the downed SilkAir Boeing 737-300 aircraft to an area
\nalong the Musi River estuary.<\/p>\n
\"We've located the suspected area (of the black box),\" Oetarjo
\nDiran, head of the investigation team, told reporters at Sultan
\nMahmud Badaruddin II Airport here yesterday evening.<\/p>\n
Without elaborating, Diran said debris was found inside the
\narea.<\/p>\n
He explained that the suspected area was found during air
\nsurveillance carried out earlier in the morning.<\/p>\n
Diran, who also chairs Indonesia's Aircraft Accident
\nInvestigation Commission, said the air sweep was conducted by
\nfour Super Puma helicopters from Singapore, two Puma SA-330s from
\nthe Indonesian Air Force and two Bolco-105s from The National
\nSearch and Rescue Agency.<\/p>\n
\"Considering the heterogeneous nature of the area in the form
\nof farms, bushes and swamp, the aerial search was conducted over
\na 10-nautical-mile radius along a length of 20 nautical miles,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
SilkAir flight MI-185 crashed into the estuary, about 70
\nkilometers north of Palembang, midway through its flight from
\nJakarta to Singapore Friday afternoon.<\/p>\n
All 104 passengers and crew are feared dead.<\/p>\n
So far search teams have failed to recover any intact bodies
\nor even the main fuselage.<\/p>\n
The search for the plane's black box, usually located at the
\nrear of the plane, is crucial in helping determine the cause of
\nthe crash. Some witnesses claimed the plane exploded before
\nplunging into the river.<\/p>\n
On Monday, Indonesian and Singapore minesweepers were used to
\nhelp locate the elusive fuselage.<\/p>\n
Diran said yesterday that four days of intensive searching had
\nyielded engine parts, a turbine compressor, a tire and lots of
\nfragmented fuselage skin.<\/p>\n
When asked, Oetarjo said the investigation team would not be
\ntoo hasty in ruling-out possibilities of the cause of the crash.<\/p>\n
\"We rule out nothing,\" he said.<\/p>\n
When asked whether he believed there was any possibility of
\nsabotage, Diran replied the team had not come to any sort of
\nconclusion since they had not analyzed anything and warned
\nagainst expecting hasty results.<\/p>\n
Speaking on the scattered debris which had been found, Diran
\nsaid it could be the result of numerous things.<\/p>\n
\"In engineering terms, it's called progressive or gradual
\ndisintegration,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said it could also be due to metal fatigue.<\/p>\n
But when pressed further, he did not reject the possibility
\nthat the disintegration was caused by a bomb.<\/p>\n
\"It could be (caused by a bomb), but it could have also been
\ncaused by a lightning strike or many other things,\" he quickly
\nretorted.<\/p>\n
Separately, South Sumatra Police chief Brig. Gen. Deddi
\nGanrijadi said police had identified one of the passengers from
\none of the body parts found.<\/p>\n
Deddi said cross-reference of finger prints of a hand found by
\ndivers established that it belonged to Singaporean Seet Cher
\nPeng.<\/p>\n
Seet was among 40 Singaporeans who were on the SilkAir plane,
\nalong with 23 Indonesians, 10 Malaysians, five Americans, five
\nFrench, four Germans, three Britons, two Japanese, one Austrian,
\none Australian, one Indian, one Taiwanese and one Bosnian.<\/p>\n
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