Indonesia: Lion Air jet that crashed may have been located in Java Sea, says military chief

The body of the Lion Air jet that crashed soon after taking off on Monday has likely been found in the Java Sea. Indonesia armed forces chief Hadi Tjahjanto on Tuesday said that a search and rescue operation identified the possible location of the jet on the seabed, AP reported.

Tjahjanto said a team will be deployed to the identified location to confirm the findings.

All 189 people aboard the flight, which took off from Jakarta and was headed for Pangkal Pinang city in the Bangka Island, are feared dead.

While rescuers have collected debris and human remains from the sea, the plane’s black boxes and fuselage are yet to be recovered. Rescue and search operations were intensified on Tuesday as authorities deployed an underwater acoustic beacon to locate the plane’s main body and the flight recorder.

Meanwhile, Indonesia’s Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi on Wednesday dismissed Lion Air’s technical director and several of its technicians, reported Reuters. Lion Air’s Chief Executive Officer Edward Sirait said he had not heard of the minister’s order.

The search and rescue agency used four sonar detectors in areas where debris from the aircraft, a Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, was found. Fifteen vessels and dozens of divers were scouring for survivors and flotsam off the shore of Karawang in West Java.

Lion Air flight JT-610 took off from Jakarta at 6.20 am (4.50 am Indian time) on Monday and lost contact at 6.33 am (5.03 am Indian time). The plane was scheduled to arrive at Pangkal Pinang at 7.20 am. It was carrying 178 adult passengers, three children, two pilots and five flight attendants.

The flight, which crashed into the water about 30 metres to 40 metres deep, had requested that it be allowed to return to base shortly before losing contact, said AirNav Indonesia spokesperson Yohanes Harry Sirait.