VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Feb. 4 - The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has said that an early warning on weather had been issued on the day the Sriwijaya Air flight SJ-182 crashed into the ocean on January 9, 2021.

“The early warning regarding the weather condition prevailing over Soekarno-Hatta International Airport's airspace was issued at 1:15 p.m. local time, though the visibility was getting better," the agency's head, Dwikorita Karnawati, said.

“Based on the weather observation at the airport, the weather turned bad at 1:31 p.m.,” she told members of Commission V of the House of Representatives (DPR), which oversees transportation, during a hearing here on Wednesday.

Therefore, passengers were not allowed to board the Boeing 737-500 jet, Karnawati said, adding that at 2:36 p.m., the weather conditions began improving, so the air traffic controllers allowed the flight to take off.

However, the ill-fated aircraft, which was carrying 50 passengers and 12 crew members, reportedly lost contact four minutes after taking off, she stated.

The BMKG had predicted rainfall with thunderstorms between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. and cumulonimbus clouds at 1,800 ft over Soekarno-Hatta International Airport's airspace on January 9, 2021, she said.

Moreover, more than 80 percent of the airport's airspace was expected to be blanketed by clouds at 1,600 ft, the agency had forecast, she said.

"We conducted an observation by releasing weather balloons on January 7, 8, and 9 (2021)," she informed.

The weather observation had revealed a likelihood of icing at 0-20 degrees Celsius at a height of 16 thousand to 27 thousand feet, while there was no likelihood of icing at 11 thousand feet, Karnawati explained.

From 1:30 p.m. to 2 p.m. Western Indonesia Time (WIB) on the day of the crash, the weather was marked by rainfall with thunderstorms, and rainfall with moderate intensity and lightning, she said.

The visibility was recorded at around four thousand meters and it then increased to five thousand meters at 2:30 p.m., she added.

The Sriwijaya Air flight SJ-182 crashed into the ocean near Jakarta shortly after taking off from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Banten province on January 9, 2021.

According to the Indonesian Transportation Ministry, the airport authorities lost contact with the flight serving the Jakarta-Pontianak route around 2:40 p.m. local time.

The last contact with the Boeing 737-500 jet was made at 11 nautical miles north of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, after the aircraft crossed an altitude of 11 thousand feet and was ascending to 13 thousand feet.

The plane, bearing the registration number PK-CLC, took off at 2:40 p.m. local time and was scheduled to land at Supadio Airport in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, at 3:50 p.m. local time on January 9, 2021.

The aircraft's flight data recorder (FDR) was retrieved by Indonesian Navy divers from the seabed on January 12, 2021, but its cockpit voice recorder remains to be found.

The aircraft's FDR has been handed over to the National Transportation Safety Commission (KNKT) for a post-crash examination. (Antaranews)