VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The beginning of 2021 is shrouded in heartbreaking events from the world of Indonesian aviation. A Boeing 737-500 Sriwijaya Air flight number SJ 182 with Jakarta-Pontianak route, crashed in the waters of Pulau Seribu after four minutes of taking off from Soekarno-Hatta Airport, Cengkareng, on Saturday (9/1) at 2 pm local time. The fateful plane was carrying 50 passengers; 40 adults, 7 children and 3 babies and a crew of 12 including the pilot and co-pilot.

According to the Minister of Transportation, Budi Karya Sumadi, the incident began when the plane took off from Soekarno-Hatta airport at 02:36. One minute later it was permitted to ascend to an altitude of 29,000 feet, following instrument standards. At around 2:40, the plane appeared to be heading not in its proper direction but towards the Southwest. Then the air traffic control (ATC) asked the pilot to report the direction of the aircraft, but the Sriwijaya SJ 182 plane disappeared from radar and was subsequently declared down.

President Joko Widodo expressed his deep condolences for the downing of the Sriwijaya Air SJ 182 plane. On behalf of the government and all Indonesian people, the President expressed his deep condolences for this tragedy. According to him, since Saturday afternoon the Minister of Transportation and the National SAR Agency, assisted by the Military as well as the Police, have been ordered to immediately carry out a search for victims. The President emphasized that he would do his best to find and rescue victims and asked people  to pray together so that the victims could be found.

Search and rescue efforts continued. SAR Mission Coordinator as well as National SAR Agency Operations Director Marshal Rasman emphasized that the search operation for Sriwijaya Air SJ 182 aircraft was carried out by operating dozens of ships, including those with underwater equipment, 12 helicopters and 32 ground equipment.

Until 5.00 p.m on Sunday (10/1), the Sriwijaya Air SJ-182 SAR operation Command Post has received a number of objects suspected of being plane debris and parts of passenger bodies. Marine Coordinator Marshal M Fadilla submitted the findings to the Integrated Command Post. The handover was the fifth during the second day of the SAR operation.

Hopefully, all victims can be found and identified so that they can return to their families and then be buried properly.