The geek with a cynical view: Sriwijaya Air Flight 182

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article documents a recent aviation incident. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses, and initial news reports may be unreliable. The latest updates to this article may not reflect the most current information. Please feel free to improve this article (but note that updates without valid and reliable references will be removed) or discuss changes on the talk page. (January 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Sriwijaya Air Flight 182

A shot of the plane pushing back, seen from the left side. Behind it is an Air Asia A320 parked at its gate.

PK-CLC, the aircraft involved in the accident,

in December 2017

Crash

Date 9 January 2021

Summary Crashed; under investigation (search ongoing)

Site Somewhere over Laki Island, Near Thousand Islands, Java Sea

05°57′36″S 106°34′30″ECoordinates: 05°57′36″S 106°34′30″E

Aircraft

Aircraft type Boeing 737-524

Aircraft name Citra

Operator Sriwijaya Air

IATA flight No. SJ182

ICAO flight No. SJY182

Call sign SRIWIJAYA 182

Registration PK-CLC

Flight origin Soekarno–Hatta International Airport, Jakarta, Indonesia

Destination Supadio International Airport, Pontianak, Indonesia

Occupants 62

Passengers 50

Crew 12[1][2][3]

Fatalities 62 (presumed)

Survivors 0 (presumed)

Sriwijaya Air Flight 182 (SJ182/SJY182) was a scheduled domestic passenger flight operated by Sriwijaya Air from Soekarno–Hatta International Airport, Jakarta, to Supadio International Airport, Pontianak, in Indonesia. On 9 January 2021, the Boeing 737–524 operating the flight disappeared from radar four minutes after departure. Officials confirmed that the aircraft crashed in the waters off the Thousand Islands, several kilometers from the airport. The search for the aircraft is ongoing.

Contents

Aircraft

The aircraft involved was a Boeing 737-524, registered as PK-CLC (MSN 27323/2616).[4] It was manufactured in 1994, and was first delivered to Continental Airlines the same year under the registration number N27610. The aircraft was acquired by United Airlines in 2010 when Continental and United merged. On 15 May 2012, United sold the aircraft to Sriwijaya Air. It was the first of a total of fifteen 737-500s received by Sriwijaya Air in 2012 to replace their 737-200s.[5] Sriwijaya Air named the aircraft "Citra". The aircraft was equipped with two CFMI CFM56-3B1 engines.[6]

The aircraft involved when it was in service with Continental Airlines in 2008 at Atlanta Hartsfield–Jackson Int'l, registered as N27610.

Flight details

Speed and altitude of Sriwijaya Air Flight 182

Route of Sriwijaya Air Flight 182

The aircraft was scheduled to take off from Soekarno–Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten, at 14:10 WIB (7:10 UTC), and was scheduled to arrive at Supadio International Airport in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, at 15:40 WIB (8:40 UTC). After pushing back from the airport's Terminal 2D,[7] the aircraft took off from Runway 25R at 14:36 local time.[8] Due to the significant delay it was expected to land in Pontianak at 15:50 WIB (08:50 UTC).[7]

Flight 182 was climbing to 13,000 ft (4,000 m) when it abruptly swerved to the right and nosedived.[9] Air traffic controller (ATC) spotted this and asked the pilots to report their condition, but received no response.[10] According to AirNav Radarbox flight data, the aircraft reported a rapid drop in altitude during the climb phase from 10,900 ft (3,300 m) to 7,650 ft (2,330 m) at 07:40 UTC.[11] Flightradar24 reported that four minutes after takeoff, the aircraft dropped by 10,000 ft (3,000 m) in less than a minute.[12] The flight tracker noted that the last recorded altitude of the aircraft was 250 feet (76 m) at 07:40:27 UTC.[13] According to provided flight data, the plane experienced a drop of 1,755 ft (535 m) in just six seconds between 07:40:08 and 07:40:18 UTC. It was followed by a drop of 825 ft (251 m) in two seconds, 2,725 ft (831 m) in four seconds, and 5,150 ft (1,570 m) in its last seven seconds.[14] Its last contact with air traffic control was at 14:40 local time (07:40 UTC). The aircraft is presumed to have crashed into the Java Sea 19 kilometres (12 mi; 10 nmi) from Soekarno–Hatta International Airport,[15] specifically near Laki Island (Laki (Q4378768)).[16]

Passengers and crew

There were 62 people on board, with 50 being passengers, 6 being active crew members and 6 being non-active crew. Everyone on board is thought to be Indonesian.[1][2][3]

Among the passengers was Mulyadi Tamsir, a politician from Indonesia's People's Conscience Party.[17][18]

The active crew consisted of Captain Afwan, First Officer Diego M. and four flight attendants.[6][19] Afwan was a former pilot in the Indonesian Air Force.[20] The manifest which was released to the public indicated that another six crew members, including another captain and first officer, were also on board the aircraft.[21]

The cargo loaded in the aircraft was confirmed to be 500 kg (1,100 pounds).[22]

Search and rescue

Several eyewitness accounts were reported. A local fisherman reported that the aircraft crashed just 14 metres (46 ft) from his location. He stated that the aircraft exploded in mid-air. A piece of the aircraft was on fire and then fell to the sea.[23][24] Meanwhile, citizens of the Thousand Islands, near where the plane crashed, heard two explosions. It was raining in the area at the time.[25] The first report of a plane crash in the Thousand Islands was made at 14:30 local time, in which a fisherman stated that a plane had crashed and exploded in the sea.[26] At around 16:00 local time, eyewitnesses coordinated with firefighters to search for the aircraft.[25] The regent of the Thousand Islands, Junaedi, also reported that something fell and exploded on Laki Island.[27]

The head of the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency (Indonesian: BASARNAS), Bagus Puruhito, reported that the crash site was located 11 nautical miles (20 km) from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.[28] Personnel from a vessel provided by the Ministry of Transportation reported that body parts, fragments of clothing, electronics, and wreckage had been recovered from the sea in waters near the Thousand Islands, with aviation fuel also reported around the location.[29][30] The water near the likely crash site has a depth of around 15–16 metres (49–52 ft).[31] BASARNAS immediately deployed personnel to the crash site[32] while the Indonesian National Police and the Ministry of Transportation set up crisis centers in Port of Tanjung Priok[33] and Soekarno–Hatta International Airport respectively.[34] The Indonesian Navy deployed a number of vessels for the SAR operations, in addition to helicopters and KOPASKA (frogman) personnel.[35]

Indonesian President Joko Widodo was immediately briefed on the accident. He ordered full coordination on the search and rescue operation and sent condolences to the relatives of the passengers and crew members.[36]

The Indonesian National Transportation Safety Committee (NTSC) reported that it will send the research ship Baruna Jaya to assist in the search and rescue operation. The vessel had been previously involved in search and rescue operations of multiple aviation accidents, including Lion Air Flight 610 and Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501.[37] Meanwhile, the Indonesian Navy deployed seven ships and divers from the 1st Naval Regional Command to assist the search and rescue process.[38] Soon after, BASARNAS reported that the pings of the aircraft's Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) had not been detected.[39] It added that the search and rescue operation will be continued overnight, with the main focus on pinpointing the exact location of the crash site.[40] The exact crash location was later announced to the public.[41]

The Indonesian Red Cross deployed 50 volunteers and prepared at least 100 body bags for the victims of the accident.[42] Family members of the victims were asked to bring DNA samples and other antemortem information to the Disaster Victims Identification unit at Kramat Jati Hospital in Jakarta.[43] Accommodations for relatives were provided by Sriwijaya Air.[44]

On the night of 9 January, an emergency slide of the aircraft was recovered from the waters near Lancang Island, Thousand Islands.[45] Several other pieces of wreckage were recovered from the crash site; the search and rescue operation was hampered by low visibility.[46]

On 10 January, Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi alongside with the Commander of the Indonesian National Armed Forces Hadi Tjahjanto supervised the search and rescue operation on board the KRI John Lie 358.[47] Hadi Tjahjanto later stated that signals from the aircraft have been detected by the army.[48] Indonesian Navy announced that the exact coordinate of the crash site has been pinpointed.[49] The Indonesian Armed Forces stated that 4 teams of divers will be deployed to the site,[50] while the Indonesian Navy will deploy 150 personnel and helicopters to the crash site.[51]

Investigation

The Indonesian National Transportation Safety Committee (NTSC / Komite Nasional Keselamatan Transportasi; KNKT) was immediately notified of the accident, with assistance from BASARNAS. NTSC stated that, starting on 10 January, just before 6:00 am local time, search and rescue personnel will start searching for the aircraft's flight recorders.[52] It added that the investigation will be assisted by the US' National Transportation Safety Board.[53]

Adita Irawati, a spokeswoman from the Indonesian Ministry of Transportation, reported that an abnormality was noted during the flight. The aircraft departed Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport with a standard instrument departure. The aircraft had been cleared to fly at 29,000 ft. During its flight climb phase, Flight 182 immediately went off course to the northwest. ATC later asked the crew about the incident, but a few seconds later the aircraft dropped from the radar.[54][55]

The director of Sriwijaya Air, Jefferson Irwin Jauwena, stated that the aircraft was airworthy, despite its age of 26 years. Although a 30-minute delay was noted, he insisted that the cause was bad weather, specifically heavy rain, rather than mechanical failure. In response, KNKT said that they would be coordinating with the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency (BMKG) in relation to weather in the Jakartan area.[56]

Indonesian aviation expert Alvin Lie stated that based on the preliminary data retrieved from aircraft, Flight 182 might have suffered a sudden failure that happened "so fast that pilots couldn't do anything". Data also indicated that there was not a single distress call or emergency call sent from the aircraft.[57]

The geek with a cynical view

Saturday, January 9, 2021

Sriwijaya Air Flight 182

Search This Blog

Links

Labels