A Sriwijaya Boeing 737-500, registration PK-CLC performing flight SJ-182 from Jakarta to Pontianak (Indonesia) with 56 passengers and 6 crew, had been cleared to climb to FL290 and was climbing through about 10,800 feet MSL out of Jakarta about 11nm north of Jakarta's Soekarno Hatta International Airport over the Java Sea when radar and radio contact was lost with the aircraft at 14:40L (07:40Z). The aircraft has so far not turned up anywhere else. A search is underway. Debris and body parts were located in waters of about 15 meters depth near Lancang Island. There are no signs of survivors.
Soekarno Airport confirmed radar and radio contact with the aircraft was lost. Data review is underway, further communication to be expected from the Ministry of Transport.
Indonesia's Ministry of Transport confirmed contact with the aircraft was lost. A search and rescue operation is in progress under the coordination of Basarnas. First units of Basarnas arriving at the crash site between Laki Island and Lancang Island have located debris. The Ministry subsequently confirmed the aircraft has crashed. The aircraft had departed Soekarno Airport at 14:36L, climbing through 1700 feet the aircraft was cleared to climb to FL290. Departure control subsequently noticed that the aircraft was not on its assigned heading of 075 degrees, but tracking northwesterly and queried the crew about the heading at 14:40L, but received no reply, within second the aircraft disappeared from radar.
On Jan 12th 2021 the Ministry reported the aircraft had last undergone examination for airworthiness in November 2020 and had received a certificate of airworthiness until Dec 17th 2021 having met all conditions of airworthiness. The Ministry also followed up with
Airworthiness Directive AD 2020-14-03 released by the FAA on July 24th 2020 regarding fatigue cracking on the left nacelle support overwing fitting flange fastener hole, and ensured within the November 2020 examination that this AD had been followed. The Ministry stated: "it was confirmed that the Sriwijaya Air SJ 182 aircraft was in an airworthy condition before flying."
In the evening of Jan 12th 2021 the Ministry of Transport reported one of the black boxes was recovered by Navy divers and taken ashore. The black box was subsequently identified as the flight data recorder. The read out of the FDR is expected to take between 2 and 5 days.
Basarnas reported they have deployed resources to the crash site and at the moment focus on locating the aircraft, hoping to be able to establish the position of the aircraft by monring of Jan 10th 2021. Several pieces of debris have been recovered already, however, it has not yet been established they are from the aircraft. The ELT transmitters of the aircraft did not and do not transmit any signals.
On Jan 10th 2021 Rescue and Recovery Services found additional body and wreckage parts, amongst them a part of about 1 meter/3 feet length. Signals believed to originate from the pingers of the black boxes were located at two locations, these signals are going to be further investigated.
On Jan 10th 2021 Basarnas reported a specialist research ship is being dispatched to investigate the ping signals and recover the black boxes. The commander of the ship believes they have successfully determined and marked the position of one of the black boxes. There is hope that the black box can be recovered until evening of Jan 10th. Ships and divers recovered body parts, clothings of victims and metallic pieces amongst them pieces of the fuselage. Body parts as well as debris from the crash site were handed over to local authorities for further handling. In the evening (local time) Basarnas stated: "Basarnas and KNKT to find the exact coordinates of the 2 blackboxes. The two aircraft blackbox emergency signals are believed to have been detected, within 150 to 200 meters of the crash site."
On Jan 11th 2021 Basarnas stated they are still looking for the black boxes, top priority is still on recovering victims however. They believe divers have located the shattered main wreckage buried in mud on the sea floor at a depth of 23 meters.
On Jan 12th 2021 Basaranas reported multiple bags with human remains and aircraft debris were handed over to authorities. Ships with cranes are being brought in to lift larger pieces of the wreckage from the sea floor.
On Jan 13th 2021 Basarnas reported recovery works have been suspended temporarily due to the weather conditions and 2.5m waves at the crash site.
On Jan 14th 2021 Basarnas reported the search for the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) is still ongoing with the assistance by an underwater robot. 34 locations of aircraft debris have been located, one of them is assumed to be the cockpit, another one the tail of the aircraft. The search is still hampered by rain and winds of 20 knots.
On Jan 15th 2021 the Indonesian Navy reported that the pinger of the CVR and parts of the housing were found and recovered, however, the CVR's memory unit is still missing. The search for the memory unit is still ongoing.
On Jan 17th 2021 the Navy reported that the remotely controlled vehicle (ROV) has again been deployed to search for the memory unit of the CVR, which is suspected to be buried underneath other debris of the aircraft.
On Jan 17th 2021 Basarnas explained the search for the CVR has become much more difficult now, as no pinger signal is available anymore to trace the memory unit. Visual contact with the box needs to be established, which has more chances to happen during the night when the diving team is reduced and therefore clearer water conditions exist at the sea floor. The ROV can thus be best used during the night.
On Jan 21st 2021 Basarnas announced, that the rescue and recovery operation for SJ-182 has been officially ended. Basarnas delivered 324 bags with human remains, 68 small parts of aircraft debris, 55 large parts of aircraft debris, the FDR and parts of the CVR (without the memory module) to authorities for further processing and identification of the human remains. The KNKT took over the search for the still missing memory module of the CVR, this search is still ongoing.
The airline stated they are in contact with aviation authorities and seeking more information. A statement will be issued once all necessary details have been established. On Jan 9th 2021 at about 21:40L (14:40Z) the airline released a statement confirming contact with the aircraft was lost at 14:40L. The aircraft carried 40 adult passengers, 7 children, 3 infants and 6 deadheading crew. The aircraft was operated by 6 active crew. The airline published a hotline phone number.
Indonesia's KNKT (National Transportation Safety Commission) have opened an investigation and announced, they begin their search for the black boxes on Sunday (Jan 10th 2021).
On Jan 10th 2021 the KNKT stated, they already know the positions of both black boxes. There is hope the black boxes can be recovered on Jan 11th 2021. Singapore have offered assistance for the search for the black boxes, which has been accepted. The US NTSB have accredited a representative who joins the investigation.
On Jan 12th 2021 the KNKT stated according to radar data the aircraft reached a maximum of 10900 feet MSL and appeared to be intacted until hitting the water being capable of transmitting data. The KNKT suspects the engines were running until impact with water based on these data. The positions of the blackboxes have been estimated based on the receiver pinger signals, a team of divers is searching the estimated position, however, have not yet found the blackboxes until afternoon of Jan 12th 2021 (local time).
In the evening of Jan 12th 2021 KNKT confirmed that the chairman of Basarnas handed the flight data recorder (FDR) over to KNKT.
On Jan 13th 2021 the KNKT reported the FDR has been read out and published a video of the preparations of the FDR for read out (see below).
On Jan 13th 2021 the NTSB reported they are sending their accredited representative plus 3 additional investigators over to Indonesia in accordance with ICAO Annex 13 to join the investigation into the crash of the Sriwijaya Boeing 737-500.
On Jan 15th 2021 the KNKT reported that the data of the FDR have been successfully downloaded, all 330 parameters recorded are in good condition and are currently being analyzed.
On Jan 19th 2021 the KNKT reported that the FDR contained 330 parameters of a total of 18 flights. The KNKT have already developed a general picture of the accident, however, need further data from the cockpit voice recorder before publishing any information. Inspections of Boeing 737-300, 737-400 and 737-500 in Indonesia have been ordered.
On Jan 22nd 2021 the KNKT confirmed a preliminary report will be released within 30 days after the accident (until Feb 8th 2021), no other information has yet been released.
A passenger booked onto the crashed flight reported, that he had to miss the flight due to his Covid-19 PCR Test results not yet having arrived. Only after the aircraft had already departed the (negative) test results arrived which would have permitted him to board the flight.
Residents of the islands nearby (Thousand Islands) were out on the sea in two boats when they heard two explosions, then found debris afloat at the sea. It was raining at that time. The residents returned one of the boats to their islands about 2 hours later and reported to police. The other boat is still at the scene holding position using an anchor. Thesse residents have so far recovered seats, cables, pockets and jeans.
The captain of a ship with 28 crew, that was located about 6nm from the impact site near Lancang Island, reported they were observing an object fall into the waters and set course towards the site. They found flight jackets, body parts and debris of an aircraft. The ship is currently holding position about half a mile off the observed crash site until rescue and recovery services (of Basarnas) arrive. The water is about 15 to 16 meters deep at the crash site.
According to ADS-B data the aircraft had departed Soekarno's runway 25R at 07:36Z, was climbing through 10,600 feet at 284 knots over ground at 07:39:50Z about 11nm north of Soekarno Airport and was at 07:40
Z at 1400 feet at 307 knots over ground about 1.6nm northnortheast of that position (average sink rate 26,300 fpm). The last received ADS-B Position was S5.9730 E106.5676.
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/SJY182/history/20210109/0640Z/WIII/WIOO
Metars:
WIII 090900Z 29006KT 6000 -RA BKN017 25/23 Q1006 NOSIG=
WIII 090830Z 29008KT 4000 RA OVC017 25/24 Q1006 NOSIG=
WIII 090800Z 28008KT 4000 -RA BKN016 OVC018 26/24 Q1006 NOSIG=
WIII 090730Z 30006KT 5000 -RA FEW017CB OVC018 25/24 Q1006 NOSIG=
WIII 090700Z 30007KT 4000 VCTS RA FEW016CB OVC018 25/24 Q1007 NOSIG=
WIII 090630Z 34007KT 2000 TSRA FEW016CB OVC018 25/24 Q1007 NOSIG RMK CB OVER THE FIELD=
WIII 090600Z 34010G20KT 5000 VCTS -RA FEW016CB OVC018 26/24 Q1007 NOSIG RMK CB TO W AND NW=
WIII 090530Z 35012KT 5000 VCTS -RA FEW016CB BKN018 26/25 Q1007 NOSIG RMK CB TO NW AND N=
WIII 090500Z 34012KT 6000 VCTS FEW016CB BKN018 28/24 Q1008 TEMPO 5000 -TSRA RMK CB TO NW AND N=
WIII 090430Z 28010KT 9999 SCT020 31/24 Q1008 NOSIG=