Search operation for SilkAir debris officially ends
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)