Indonesian plane likely broke apart after hitting waters, says Safety Committee Chief

An Indonesian passenger plane that crashed on January 9 in the Java Sea might have broken apart after hitting the waters, said Soerjanto Tjahjono, the Head of National Transportation Safety Committee. Tjahjono said that all pieces of the debris have been found in one area only, which indicates that the aircraft may have possibly broken apart after hitting the waters and did not explode mid-air. The search and rescue team is currently attempting to retrieve the cockpit voice and flight data recorders, which have been located in the same area, where the debris of the plane was found. 

Read: Suspected Debris Of Indonesian Passenger Plane That Went Missing Located: Reports

The crash

The Sriwijaya Air's flight 182 went off the radar on January 9 moments after the departure from the capital Jakarta. The flight, which was travelling to Pontianak in West Kalimantan province, disappeared from the radar at 2:40 pm local time, according to the country's Transportation Ministry. The aircraft reportedly lost more than 10,000 in altitude in just one minute before vanishing from the radar. Sriwijaya Air's Boeing flight was carrying 62 people, including six crew members.

Read: Indonesia's Sriwijaya Air Flight Lost Contact After Taking Off From Jakarta, 62 Onboard

The Indonesian Transportation Ministry informed the press about the missing flight later that afternoon and said that search and rescue operations have been launched to locate the aircraft. Later in the day, authorities informed that the search team has located suspected debris of Flight 182, a Boeing aircraft in operation for more than 26 years. It was confirmed after the hours-long operation that the suspected debris belonged to the missing Sriwijaya Air's flight.

Read: Indonesia President Confirms Boeing Plane Crashed In Java Sea

Rescue operations went on for another day on January 10 as emergency teams recovered both debris of the plane and bodies of passengers. Black boxes of the plane were also located near the crash site yesterday. Indonesian divers are working to retrieve the flight data recorders from the depth of the Java Sea. 

Read: Indonesia: Authorities Locate Black Box Recorders From Crashed Boeing Plane

(Image Credit: AP)