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BLACK boxes from the Sriwijaya Air Boeing 737 passenger plane that crashed into the sea soon after take-off in Indonesia have been located, officials said on Sunday.
Navy divers are confident they will be able to retrieve the two flight recorders when the search operation resumes today.
The Boeing 737 was carrying 62 persons when it vanished from radar on its journey to Borneo.
Head of Indonesia’s Transport Safety Committee Soerjanto Tjahjono said yesterday: “We have located the position of the black boxes, both of them. Divers will start looking for them now and hopefully it won’t be long before we get them.”
Investigators are also analysing items which they believe to be a wheel and part of the plane’s fuselage. A turbine from one of its engines is also among the debris that has been recovered.
Search operation, which was suspended for the night, is due to resume today.
A spokesman for the Jakarta police, Yusri Yunus, said two bags had been received from the search and rescue agency.
“The first bag contained passengers’ properties, another contained body parts. We are still identifying these findings,” he added.
Police are also asking families of victims to provide DNA samples and dental records to help identify the remains.
The missing aircraft is not a 737 Max, the Boeing model that was grounded from March 2019 until last December following two deadly crashes.
Although no one on board has been formally identified, information is however emerging from family and friends. Some of the passengers identified so far are:
Pilot Captain Afwan (54), who left home quickly on the day, according to his nephew, Ferza Mahardhika. “We’re in grief, still praying for the best,” Mahardhika said.
Angga Fernanda Afrion, whose mother, Afrida, is still holding out hope that her 29-year-old son might still be alive.
“Family members who are in Jakarta are searching for information. I want to go, too, but with the pandemic it’s difficult to travel,” Afrida, who lives in West Sumatra, said.
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Angga, a seaman, became a father one week ago.
Ihsan Adhlan Hakim and Putri Wahyuni, newly married couple. Ihsan’s brother, Arwin Amru Hakim, said his brother had called from Soekarno Hatta Airport to let the family know their flight had been delayed due to bad weather. The couple were travelling to Kalimantan to hold a wedding party for Ihsan’s extended family who live in Pontianak.
Indah Halima Putri and Muhammad Rizky Wahyudi, with their baby
Indah Halima Putri had returned to her family home in Java to have her baby and was returning home with her husband. She sent a photo of the plane’s wing via whatsapp saying there was heavy rain and asked for the family’s prayers.
A special centre has been set up at Pontianak Supadio Airport in Indonesia to take DNA samples from close family of those on board to help with identification.
“We have deployed 51 personnel to work with personnel from the Disaster Victim Identification team to collect the samples,” Assistant Senior Commissioner of Police Yani Permana said.
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