REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- A Lion Air passenger airplane flying from Jakarta to Pangkalpinang in Bangka Belitung Province, lost contact on Monday morning. Lion Air JT 610 was 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.
However, the airplane lost contact at 06:33 a.m. There were 181 passengers and 7 crews on board. The passangers consisted of 124 men, 54 female, 1 child, dan 2 babies.
Karawang Police Chief Slamet Waloya said the crash site has been found. It was allegedly fell around 17 miles from Tanjung Pakis Beach, Pakisjaya, Karawang, West Java.
It located at the border of Karawang and Bekasi, in Tanjung Karawang waters. Joint rescue team has found parts of passengers' bodies and debris of the plane that crashed in the sea with a depth of 30 to 35 meters.
"We have searched Karawang waters from Tempuran to Pakisjaya," Waloya said to Republika.co.id, Monday.
Families of passengers of the ill-fated Lion Air JT-610 Jakarta-Pangkalpinang route gather at Arrival Lounge of Depati Amir Airport, Pangkalpinang, Bangka Belitung, Monday (Oct 29).
Meanwhile, a spokesman of the Directorate General of Air Transportation of the Transportation Ministry Sindu Rahayu said in Jakarta, the aircraft with registration number PK-LOP was last detected by radar at a coordinate of 05 46.15 S - 107 07.16 E. Before it lost contact, the airplane has asked to return to base.
The ministry has worked on coordination with the National Search and Rescue Agency, Lion Air, the Directorate General of Sea Transportation to locate the ill-fated Boeing 737-8 Max plane.
National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) and National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) pledged to update information on the incident every two hours. "We will hold a press conference every two hours to update the information to the public," KNKT Chief Soerjanto told the reporters at Basarnas office, Jakarta, Monday.
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