The head of Indonesia’s national transport safety committee, Soerjanto Tajahono, said there were no foreigners on board the crashed Sriwijaya Air plane, the Jakarta Globe newspaper wrote on Sunday, January 10.
“All the passengers on board were Indonesians,” he is quoted as saying.
According to him, due to the fact that only citizens of Indonesia were on board the plane, the experts did not transmit information about the crash to the relevant commissions of other countries, except for the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), since the plane was of American production.
On the eve of the passenger Boeing of Sriwijaya Air, flying from Jakanrta-Pontianak, disappeared from the radar four minutes after departure. After that, local media reported about the crash of the liner, and eyewitnesses reported that the aircraft crashed into the Java Sea, presumably exploding.
Indonesian Transport Minister Budi Karia Sumadi confirmed the information about the disaster. According to him, there were 65 people on board. According to Sriwijaya Air, there were 62 people on the plane.
The Associated Press later reported that a probable crash site had been found in the Java Sea. According to preliminary data, the wreckage is at a depth of 23 meters.
On Sunday, in the area of the alleged crash site, during a search operation, Indonesian Navy divers found fragments of the fuselage and landing gear, as well as clothes, probably children. According to the coordinator of the search operation, a total of three bags of small aircraft parts were collected. The remains of the victims of the tragedy were also found.