REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Director of Preparedness for Indonesia's search and rescue agency Basarnas Didi Hamzar stated that Indonesia does not need foreign assistance in the search for Lion Air JT 610 aircraft. He asserted that Basarnas personnel are still capable of conducting search operations.

Several countries have offered assistance in the search for Lion Air JT 610 aircraft. "We have received assistance, in the form of data and information, to support the search process," Hamzar stated here on Tuesday.

Indonesia has cooperation with Australia in the search and rescue operation. "They have provided data and information that can help in the search process," he explained.

When a Lion Air passenger airplane with 188 people on board flying from Jakarta to Pangkalpinang in Bangka Belitung Province lost contact on Monday (Oct 29), Basarnas tried to detect a signal of Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) from the aircraft. "Basarnas' Medium Earth Orbit Local User Terminal" (MEOLUT) could not detect the signal of ELT. As a result, Basarnas sought Australia's help. Apparently, Australia's MEOLUT also could not detect the signal," he explained.

Joint SAR team is working non-stop to evacuate victims and debris of Lion Air flight JT610 aircraft at JICT 2, Tanjung Priok Port, Jakarta, Tuesday (Oct 30) night.

President Joko Widodo earlier observed the search and rescue efforts, carried out by the joint SAR team, at the Jakarta International Container Terminal (JICT) of Tanjung Priok Port, Jakarta. The president arrived at the Integrated Command Center for Evacuation of Victims of Lion Air flight JT 610 in JICT on Tuesday around 4:10 p.m. local time.

He met with a number of SAR officers who were on duty and had a look at the items recovered from the Lion Air JT 610 airplane.

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Chief of the National SAR Agency (Basarnas) M Syaugi as well as Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi gave explanations on the items found in the ocean and believed them to be related to the JT 610 flight.

A Lion Air plane, with a flight number JT 610 and 188 people on board, crashed in Tanjung Kerawang waters, West Java Province, after flying for 13 minutes from Jakarta toward Pangkalpinang, Bangka Belitung Province, on Monday morning. The airplane departed from Jakarta at 06:20 a.m. local time and was scheduled to arrive in Pangkalpinang at 07:05 a.m. local time, according to the Depati Amir Airport authority in Pangkalpinang.

Before it lost contact, the airplane had asked for permission to return to Jakarta due to a problem. The airplane carried 178 adult passengers, three infants, five crew members, and two pilots.

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