Search operation for SilkAir debris officially ends
JAKARTA (JP): The search and rescue operation for the wreckage of a Singaporean passenger jet in the Musi River estuary in South Sumatra was officially abandoned last night.
But the search for wreckage in the estuary about 60 kilometers downriver from Palembang, will continue unofficially, led by the Indonesian Navy.
The 19-day intensive search failed to find the fuselage of the SilkAir plane or any intact body of the 104 people on board. But both the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) were found which will help investigators determine the cause of the crash.
"Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto announced the operation will officially end this evening at 6 p.m.," Commander of the Palembang Air Force Base Lt. Col. Yanuwardi told The Jakarta Post by phone yesterday.
Haryanto made the announcement earlier at Palembang's Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II Airport, moments before leaving for Jakarta, Yanuwardi said.
"The minister personally carried the CVR and it is scheduled to be flown to the United States tomorrow from Jakarta," he said.
The orange instrument, which recorded radio transmissions and sounds in the cockpit, including conversation among the cockpit crew, was found by the Singaporean dredger Moshasi sent to help search operations last week.
The flight data recorder was found on Dec. 27 and has already been sent to Washington for examination by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board.
Both items, known as the black box, are essential for a thorough and conclusive investigation of the crash.
Yanuwardi said the Commander of the Palembang Navy Col. Nuranto, who replaced the Commander of the Western Fleet's security task force Commodore Rosihan Arsyad as the field commander, will supervise the informal search operation.
Rosihan said Sunday the Moshasi dredger would remain in operation until next week, although the joint rescue operation between Indonesia and Singapore was officially over.
Yanuwardi said Haryanto will fly back to Palembang today to meet with Singaporean Communications Minister Mah Bow Tan, who will decide the time and place for the mass burial of the crash victims.
Haryanto said earlier the victims would be buried in Palembang or in the nearby fishing village of Sungsang.
The 10-month old Boeing 737-300 crashed into an estuary in the Musi River during a regular flight from Jakarta to Singapore. All 104 passengers and crew on board were killed.
The plane was flying at its cruising altitude of 35,000 feet (10,600 meters) in clear weather. Ground control did not receive any distress calls before the accident.
The cause of the crash remains a mystery. Local witnesses claimed to have seen the plane explode in midair.
SilkAir is a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines and the crash was the first in the country's civil aviation history. (10)