Indonesia Boeing plane crash. Fatal MAX: Boeing's best-selling plane crashes in Indonesia. Only ten bodies of Lion Air passengers found in Indonesia

On October 29, 2018, a Boeing 737-800 passenger aircraft belonging to the airline Lion Air, flying from Jakarta to Pankal Pinang, crashed off the west coast of the island of Java. The incident occurred almost immediately after takeoff - the plane was in the sky for only 13 minutes. After which he disappeared from air traffic controllers’ radars, and attempts to contact the crew members were futile.

Chronicle of the Boeing 737-800 Lion Air crash off the coast of Indonesia

The Boeing 737-800 passenger airliner, owned by the Indonesian air carrier Lion Air, took off from Jakarta International Airport at 23:20. No problems with takeoff were identified, however, while gaining altitude, the crew asked air traffic controllers to make an emergency landing due to technical problems that had arisen.

When approaching a turn, the plane suddenly disappeared from air traffic controllers' radars, and the crew members stopped communicating.

In total, the plane remained in the air for about 13 minutes, which indicates that the problem that manifested itself was of an emergency nature.

Later, arriving at the suspected area of ​​the crash of a Boeing 737-800 passenger airliner, rescuers discovered wreckage of the aircraft off the west coast of the island of Java.

Preliminary versions of the Boeing 737 Lion Air crash in Indonesia

Experts who have already begun investigating the plane crash are considering several versions of the tragedy that occurred, however, according to experts and analysts, a technical malfunction is certainly to blame.

Engine failure

The engine failure version began to be considered by specialists investigating the plane crash involving a Boeing 737 in Indonesia almost immediately. According to some information, when asking air traffic controllers for the possibility of making an emergency landing, the pilot of the crashed airliner stated that the main problem was the malfunction of one of the engines.

Experts do not rule out that during the climb, a bird completely hit the engine of the passenger airliner, which put it out of action, but this version has not yet been officially confirmed.

Control system failure

In addition to the version with engine failure, experts do not rule out that a failure of the control system could also be to blame. This is primarily due to the fact that after a request for an emergency landing, the crew began to turn the plane around, but the aircraft was never able to fly back, crashing a few kilometers off the west coast of the island of Java.

Victims and injured in the plane crash in Indonesia on October 29, 2018

According to data that appeared in various sources, there could have been from 178 people (The Straits Times) to 189 people (Detik) on board the crashed passenger airliner. Due to the large amount of debris found by rescuers at the crash site, the likelihood that any of the passengers and crew on board could survive is extremely low.

However, experts note that due to the relative proximity of the crash to the coast of the island of Java, there is still a possibility that anyone on board will be able to escape.

At the moment, rescuers are conducting search operations at the crash site, but apart from the first victims of the tragedy, no survivors could be found.

There were 189 people on board: 181 passengers, including three children, and eight crew members. All of them died, Indonesian authorities said.

According to local media, more than 20 employees of the Ministry of Finance were on board. According to preliminary information, there were no Russian citizens among the passengers.

Details

The airliner belonged to Lion Air. He was flying on a domestic route from Jakarta to Pankal Pinang. However, it crashed into the Java Sea near the western coast of the island of Java. Eyewitnesses reported seeing the plane crash into the sea.

Contact with the pilots was lost a few minutes after takeoff from the capital's airport. Before the fall, they conveyed that they wanted to return. The pilots did not have time to report the reasons for the decision.

A search operation is currently ongoing in the crash area. Its participants discovered fragments of the airliner, the body of one passenger and personal belongings of the passengers.

Causes

There is no information yet about the reasons for the plane crash. The crashed Boeing began flying only two months ago and was put into service this year. The company assured that it was fit to fly. It was noted that the airliner had a technical problem during its last voyage. Specialists eliminated it and the plane returned to service after inspection. Both pilots were experienced. The weather was good in the area where they were flying.

Indonesian authorities emphasized that they would study all the data, including information from the flight recorders, and name the causes of the incident.

The crash of the Indonesian airliner was the first for the Boeing 737 MAX 8 model, which is a new generation. It began operating on commercial passenger flights last year.

Condolences

Indonesian President Joko Widodo addressed the country's citizens on television. He expressed condolences to the relatives and friends of the victims. He noted that the government was focusing on the search operation in the area of ​​the plane crash. The head of state also added that emergency services are investigating the causes of the incident.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin addressed the head and citizens of Indonesia with condolences. According to him, in Russia “they share the grief of those who lost their relatives and friends in this disaster.” He also wished them “courage and perseverance.”

Version – terrorist attack

Aviation expert and former military pilot Vladimir Popov called the terrorist attack one of the possible reasons for the Boeing 737 crash.

According to him, the plane crew did not just request permission to land. “This suggests that some problems forced them to make such a decision,” FAN quotes Popov with reference to Nation News.

Popov noted that the crew members did not explain the reason. He clarified that the pilots were unable to fully transmit the information precisely because of the terrorist attack.

The crash of the Boeing 737 MAX of the Indonesian airline Lion Air may provoke a massive refusal of carriers from contracts for the purchase of new aircraft. Lion Air itself was the first to announce the suspension of negotiations with Boeing on ten such aircraft. Russian air carriers have not yet made loud statements. In our country there is only one aircraft of this type - the S7, but it was reported that the Siberian airline was purchasing 11 of these aircraft, and UTair was among the possible operators. If the investigation into the crash reveals systemic problems with the aircraft, the termination of contracts is inevitable, market experts say.

Top model

The Boeing 737 MAX 8 was developed to replace the Boeing 737 Next Generation. The US Federal Aviation Administration certified the MAX 8 modification in March 2017, and the first aircraft was delivered to Malaysian airline Malindo Air two months later. The new aircraft uses more powerful and larger CFM International LEAP-1B engines. The liner can carry from 162 to 200 passengers.

Boeing notes that the 737 MAX family is the best-selling aircraft in the airline's history. It has already collected about 4,700 orders from more than 100 clients around the world. Among them are Air Canada, Air China, Air Europe, American Airlines, Azerbaijan, Flydubai, Korean Air, Malaysia Airlines, Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines, United Airlines and others.

So far, only one MAX 8 aircraft has been delivered to Russia - S7 Airlines. It was previously announced that it would be based in Novosibirsk and fly to Moscow and Chita. In total, S7 ordered 11 aircraft of this type. The second possible Russian operator of the aircraft was the Russian company UTair. It is not known whether our carriers will reconsider contracts and abandon aircraft. The airlines did not respond to Izvestia’s requests.

Terrible start

Flight JT610 of the low-cost Indonesian company Lion Air took off from Jakarta at 6:20 (2:20 Moscow time) Monday. An hour later the plane was supposed to land on a neighboring island. But shortly after takeoff, the crew requested the opportunity to return, and 13 minutes after takeoff, communication with the cockpit on the ground was lost. There was no distress signal from the aircraft's emergency transmitter. A tug was sailing in the area where the plane crashed - it was from him that the first message about the crash came.

According to the National Transport Safety Committee, there were 189 people on board the plane - two pilots, six crew members and 181 passengers. A little later they announced: among them there was one Italian, and one of the pilots was an Indian citizen. There were no Russians on board.

According to preliminary data, the plane broke into pieces when it hit the water and sank, Suryo Adya, deputy head of the Indonesian Emergency and Disaster Management Agency, told reporters. He explained that there is practically no chance of finding survivors and efforts are focused on finding the bodies of the dead.

The authorities did not put forward any preliminary versions of the tragedy. But they noted: the plane was new (a batch of 50 Boeing 737 MAX was ordered only in April, the fallen side was delivered in mid-August), and the pilots were highly qualified - the two of them together had flown 11 thousand hours. At the time of the flight there was a clear sky, no strong wind, so there was no fault of the weather either. Later, however, Lion Air Group chief executive Edward Sirait said the crashed plane had a minor technical problem that was discovered on a recent flight from the resort island of Bali to Jakarta, but it had been “resolved in accordance with procedure.”

On a previous flight, this particular aircraft had unreliable airspeed and altitude indicator readings. And this was recorded in the technical logbook,” Honored Pilot of Russia Viktor Sazhenin told Izvestia.

However, according to him, it is possible to fly such an aircraft even with such defects: each aircraft has special signs for piloting in such conditions, and the crew is specially trained for such cases.

As military expert Vladislav Shurygin told Izvestia, at the first stage of the investigation of plane crashes, a search is being conducted for parametric recorders - “black boxes”.

A passenger Boeing crashed off the coast of Java in Indonesia on Monday, October 29. There were 189 people on board; according to preliminary data, all of them died. What is happening now at the search and rescue site - in the Izvestia gallery


The plane of a large local airline Lion Air (a low-cost carrier) took off from Jakarta airport early in the morning of October 29 (Moscow time), a few minutes after takeoff it disappeared from radar screens. It later became known that the plane crashed into the sea near the island of Java 13 minutes after takeoff


It is not yet known what may have caused the crash, but it is reported that shortly before the plane disappeared from radar screens, the pilot was requesting permission to return to Jakarta Airport

Photo: REUTERS/Antara Foto/Hadi Sutrisno

On modern aircraft, recorders record dozens of parameters. Starting from engine operation to the stability of the on-board electrical network, the expert noted. - Next, all the debris is collected and laid out. This allows you to understand what damage the plane received and for what reason. And also how the destruction of its structure developed.

Aircraft prospects

The crash in Indonesia was the first time a Boeing 737 MAX, the newest type of the plane and the best-selling worldwide, has crashed. A plane crash can play a cruel joke on the manufacturer of the airliner: buyers of the aircraft may refuse to supply it, experts say.

Until the first circumstances are clarified, everyone is trying to play it safe: to freeze their obligations so as not to get into trouble. There is also a question of image. Imagine: you charter an aircraft from an airline whose plane crashed yesterday. Now the name is well known, when everything starts to calm down, it will return to normal,” aviation expert, editor-in-chief of the Avia.ru portal Roman Gusarov told Izvestia.

Carriers can refuse already chartered aircraft only if, following an investigation into the causes of accidents, any systemic problems are revealed that the aviation authorities will pay attention to, Oleg Panteleev, executive director of Aviaport, told Izvestia.

Air carrier Lion Air, however, has already announced that it is suspending negotiations with Boeing on an order for the purchase of ten 737 airliners from the MAX program.

Due to the fact that Indonesia consists of 17 thousand islands, air traffic in this country is extremely developed, but incidents with aircraft are not uncommon here. They happened more than once at Lion Air, which accounts for about half of all domestic flights. In 2004, a low-cost airline plane flew into a cemetery in the city of Solo, killing 25 people. In April 2013, one of the airline's Boeings missed a runway in Bali, skidding into the sea. All passengers survived, but about 40 people were injured.

A passenger Boeing 737 with 188 passengers on board shortly after takeoff from Jakarta. There is no information about survivors. UNIAN has collected everything that is known about the tragedy at the moment.

What happened?

The airliner of the Indonesian airline Lion Air was making a domestic flight from Jakarta to Pankal Pinang (JT610). According to the Flightradar 24 service, the plane took off at 6.20 am local time with a 10-minute delay and was expected to arrive at its destination at 7.20 am. 13 minutes after takeoff, communication with the aircraft was lost.

Later, rescuers reported that the crew of a tugboat leaving the port saw the falling plane. It crashed into the sea near the island of Java, 15 kilometers from the coast.

Plane crash victims

There were 188 people on board the plane that crashed into the sea, including seven crew members. Among the passengers are two newborns and one child. Reuters reports 189 people on board.

Emergency services reported the found wreckage of the plane in the province of West Java. Life jackets and personal belongings of passengers, including mobile phones, were found at the crash site. Subsequently, Indonesian rescuers reported that they never found any survivors at sea.

A representative of the Indonesian National Disaster Management Council posted horrific images of the personal belongings of the plane's passengers on his Twitter page.

According to Reuters, at least 23 government officials were on board the plane.

According to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, there were no Ukrainians among the passengers.

Search operation

The crash site is being examined by ships and a rescue helicopter. Emergency services are still hoping to find survivors at sea.

Ambulances were pulled to the shore near the crash site, and fishing vessels were involved in the search operation.

Lion Air plane crashes in Indonesia

Causes of the tragedy

According to Reuters, Lion Air told reporters that the plane had technical problems during the flight from the resort island of Bali to Jakarta, but they were resolved in accordance with the established procedure.

The plane was said to have been in service since August and was airworthy. Its crew was experienced - the pilots had flown a total of 11 thousand hours.

The head of the Indonesian transport safety authority could not yet confirm any cause of the crash. Rescuers are searching for the plane's black boxes at the crash site.

into the sea off the west coast of Java, Indonesia, shortly after takeoff. There were 189 people on board

Photo: Twitter / Sutopo Purwo Nugroho

The plane was operating flight JT-610. The plane took off from Jakartaat 6:20 am local time (2:20 Moscow time) and was supposed to landin Pankalpinang city 7:20 (at 3:20). Communication with the linerwas lost 13 minutes after takeoff.

Before the plane disappeared from radar, the pilotsThe Boeing asked the dispatcher for permission to return to the departure airport, told in General Directorate of Civil Aviation of Indonesia.

The crews of several civilian ships were the first to discover the wreckage of the liner 11 kilometers off the coast of Java. Now at the crash site work boat, helicopter and search and rescue team of 130 people. Rescuers are searching for a sunken plane.

What is known about passengers

There were 181 passengers on board the Boeing, including three children and 23 government officials, as well as two pilots and six flight attendants. There is no official word yet on the fate of the people on board. MIA « Russia today “reports that rescuers found the body of one deceased.

The head of Indonesia's disaster prevention agency tweeted photos of the wreckage and passengers' personal belongings found.

The Russian Embassy in Indonesia is investigating whether Russians were on board the crashed airliner. According to local media, there were no Russian citizens among the crash victims, reports MIA Rossiya Segodnya.

What is known about the plane

"Boeing" 737 MAX 8 with registration number PK-LQP used with the airline since August 13, having managed to fly about 800 hours during this time.

Aircraft manufacturer Boeingwrote on Twitter that he knows abouthappened and is closely monitoring the development of the situation.

Head of the airline Lion Air Edward Sirait refused to comment on the crash and stated that the carrier is currently collecting information about the flight.

What is known about the airline

Lion Air - the largest low-cost airline in Indonesia, operating domestic flights and also flying on several routes to Australia,Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Until 2016to the air carrier banned flyin European airspace due to safety issues and unprofessional pilots.

In 2004, one of the airline's planes collapsed while landing in Surakarta, Indonesia. 25 people died.In 2013, another plane Lion Air crashed into the sea while landing at Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali. Then all 108 people on board survived. In addition, airline pilots were caught several times in a state of drug intoxication before flying.

 

It might be useful to read: