Divers find wreckage from plane which crashed into sea off Indonesia with 62 people on board

Video report by ITV News Reporter Martha Fairlie

Wreckage from a plane which crashed into the Java Sea with 62 people onboard has been found by divers in Indonesia.

It is thought that all those on the plane died.

The Boeing 737-500 lost contact with air traffic controllers minutes after taking off from Jakarta on Saturday.

On Sunday, divers found wreckage from the Sriwijaya Air Flight 182 at a depth of 23 metres (75 feet). “We received reports from the diver team that the visibility in the water is good and clear, allowing the discovery of some parts of the plane," Air Chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto said in a statement.

“We are sure that is the point where the plane crashed.” He said the objects included broken pieces of fuselage with aircraft registration parts. Earlier, rescuers pulled out body parts, pieces of clothing and scraps of metal from the surface. It’s still unclear what caused the crash and there have been no signs of survivors.

An Indonesian soldier beside a map showing the location where the jet went down Credit: Dita Alangkara/AP

“I represent the government and all Indonesians in expressing my deep condolences for this tragedy," President Joko Widodo said. “We are doing our best to save the victims.

"We pray together so that the victims can be found,” he said, adding that he had asked the National Transport Safety Committee to conduct an investigation.

Fishermen in the area between Lancang and Laki islands, part of an archipelago around Thousand Islands north of Jakarta’s coast, reported hearing an explosion around 2.30pm on Saturday. “We heard something explode, we thought it was a bomb or a tsunami since after that we saw the big splash from the water," Solihin, who goes by one name, said.

“It was raining heavily and the weather was so bad. So it is difficult to see around clearly.

"But we can see the splash and a big wave after the sounds.

"We were very shocked and directly saw the plane debris and the fuel around our boat.” Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said Flight SJ182 was delayed for an hour before it took off at 2.36pm.

It disappeared from flight radars four minutes later, after the pilot contacted air traffic control to ascend to an altitude of 29,000 feet (8,839 meters), he said. There were 62 people on board, including seven children and three babies.

Rescuers examine debris found in the water off Java Island Credit: Dita Alangkara/AP

“Our thoughts are with the crew, passengers, and their families. We are in contact with our airline customer and stand ready to support them during this difficult time," Boeing said in a statement.

Authorities have established two crisis centers, one at the airport and one at a port. Families gathered to wait for news of loved ones.

On social media, people began circulating the flight manifesto with photos and videos of those who were listed as passengers.

One video showed a woman with her children waving goodbye while walking through the airport. Sriwijaya Air President Director Jefferson Irwin Jauwena said the plane, which is 26 years old and previously used by airlines in the United States, was airworthy.

He told reporters on Saturday that the plane had previously flown to Pontianak and Pangkal Pinang city on the same day. “Maintenance report said everything went well and airworthy,” Mr Jauwena told a news conference.

He said the plane was delayed due to bad weather, not because of any damage.

Divers carry wreckage from the plane. Credit: AP

Indonesia, the world’s largest archipelago nation, with more than 260 million people, has been plagued by transportation accidents on land, sea and air because of overcrowding on ferries, aging infrastructure and poorly enforced safety standards. In October 2018, a Boeing 737 MAX 8 jet operated by Lion Air plunged into the Java Sea just minutes after taking off from Jakarta, killing all 189 people on board.

The plane involved in Saturday’s incident did not have the automated flight-control system that played a role in the Lion Air crash and another crash of a 737 MAX 8 jet in Ethiopia five months later, leading to the grounding of the MAX 8 for 20 months. The Lion Air crash was Indonesia’s worst airline disaster since 1997, when 234 people were killed on a Garuda airlines flight near Medan on Sumatra island.

In December 2014, an AirAsia flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore plunged into the sea, killing 162 people. Sriwijaya Air has only has several minor incidents in the past, though a farmer was killed in 2008 when landing plane went off runway due to a hydraulic issue. The United States banned Indonesian carriers from operating in the country in 2007, but reversed the decision in 2016, citing improvements in compliance with international aviation standards.

The European Union has previously had similar bans, lifting them in June 2018.