Indonesian authorities are conducting recovery operations for a Sriwijaya Air Boeing 737-500 that crashed in the Java sea on 9 January.
Debris believed to be aircraft wreckage as well as some personal items have been recovered, says Indonesian search and rescue agency Basarnas.
It says that the items were found between Lancang Island and Laki Island to the north-west of Jakarta.
An exhaustive search involving various agencies, including the Indonesian navy, is combing the area to pinpoint the aircraft’s final position. Indonesia’s Air Force has also contributed an Airbus Defence & Space C295 and two helicopters to the search. Divers have been dispatched to the area.
As yet there is no word about the aircraft’s cockpit-voice and flight-data recorders.
The aircraft, PK-CLC, was operating flight SJ182 on the Jakarta-Pontianak route when contact was lost at 14:40 local time on 9 January.
Unverified data from flight tracking sites suggest that contact was lost roughly 4min after take-off, with the aircraft reaching a maximum altitude of 10,900ft before rapidly descending to just 250ft, when transponder contact was lost.
The airline confirms that the 737 was carrying 56 passengers and six crew. Among the passengers were six off-duty crew members.
FlightGlobal understands that PK-CLC (MSN27323) was formerly managed by GECAS, which sold it to Sriwijaya in 2018. It served with Continental Airlines from 1994 to 2011, and entered service with Sriwijaya in 2012.
Corrects last paragraph with details of PK-CLC’s management. A previous version stated that GECAS still managed the aircraft.
