Search efforts bear little fruit

JAKARTA (JP): A minesweeper and sonar equipment will be used today to search for the submerged fuselage of the SilkAir airplane which crashed in South Sumatra, after efforts by divers over the weekend only recovered body parts and fragments from the wreckage.

"The search today bore little fruit," said Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto who is personally overseeing the search in Sungsang, South Sumatra.

Speaking to journalists in a televised broadcast yesterday, Haryanto said that sonar equipment and minesweepers would likely been called in today to give divers a break from their exhaustive search.

Only a wing tip and the rudder have been found along with small fragments from the plane.

Although the 97 passengers and seven crew members of the fateful flight have not all been declared dead, hopes of their survival are quickly fading as search teams have only been successful in locating detached body parts.

A SilkAir Boeing 737-300, flight number MI-185, crashed at the estuary of the Musi River, near Sungsang village, north of Palembang Friday.

Officials refuse to speculate on the cause of the crash but witnesses, including a police officer, claim to have seen the plane explode in midair.

SilkAir has said the pilot made no distress calls.

Divers probing the Musi River earlier said the fuselage was stuck on the bottom of the river.

But when a large crane mounted onto a barge was brought in too pull it out, divers could not locate the fuselage.

"It is likely that the fuselage may have been swept away by the strong current," Haryanto said.

Muddy waters and strong currents have limited divers ability to work underwater.

An Indonesia minesweeper brought in from Surabaya and sonar equipment from Singapore is ready, Haryanto added.

Bodies

More body parts and personal items were found by divers yesterday. Not a single intact body has been discovered.

"Shards of bodies which we have been wrapped in plastic are a part of a hand, skin, intestines, liver and flesh," Antara quoted Musthopa, an officer from the South Sumatra Sea Police, as describing in graphic detail yesterday.

Personal items such as identity cards, passports, a belt, a batik shirt and a mukenah, a female Moslem dress for prayer, have also been found.

In Singapore, SilkAir officials claim that the plane which crashed had an excellent maintenance record and underwent a thorough check just 10 days earlier.

Rick Clements, SilkAir's senior public affairs manager, was quoted by AFP as saying that the plane was "a well-maintained aircraft with a clean bill of health".

The plane was just 10-months old, leased and delivered in February 1997 to SilkAir which is a fully owned subsidiary of Singapore Airlines Ltd.

Clements added that the plane underwent three maintenance checks required of the plane after every 800 hours of flying time.

Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Tony Tan vowed that his government would pursue a thorough investigation.

"We must get to the bottom of this to find out what is the cause," Tan said in a news briefing.

According to Chan Yat, spokesman of the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS), there are 464 Singapore military, police, civil defense, medical, aviation officials and SilkAir staff working on the salvage operation.

Chan also revealed that two Boeing investigators have been at the site since Saturday.

Two representatives of the United States Federal Aviation Administration were due to arrive yesterday evening, he said adding that another two members of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are also set to arrive today.

Reuters reported from Washington that the team would include an explosives expert.

But an NTSB spokesman said the inclusion of an explosives expert was routine.

"It is routine to send investigators with a wide range of specialities, including a person with a fire and explosives background," NTSB spokesman Patrick Cariseo said.

Friday's crash came just three months after a Garuda Indonesia Airbus crashed near Medan, North Sumatra, killing all 234 on board.

President Soeharto conveyed his condolences Saturday to all the relatives of victims of flight MI-185.

Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono said the head of state also instructed the local administration and people to help rescue workers handle victims of the crash.

"The President has also received a preliminary report from Transportation Minister Haryanto Dhanutirto about the incident," Moerdiono said.

Moerdiono said the President had also sent his condolences to Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong who had expressed his condolences a day earlier. (mds)