Indonesia jet has damaged airspeed indicator on last four flights

World
Europe

Indonesian accident investigators said an airspeed indicator of a Boeing 737 MAX plane that crashed last week was damaged for its last four flights.

The damage on a Lion Air jet that crashed into the sea, killing all 189 aboard, was revealed after data had been downloaded from the plane's flight data recorder, Indonesia's National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) chief Soerjanto Tjahjono said on Monday.

His agency was asking Boeing and US authorities what action to take to prevent similar problems on this type of plane around the world, he added.

"We are formulating, with NTSB and Boeing, detailed inspections regarding the airspeed indicator," he said, referring to the US National Transportation Safety Board.

An Indonesian National Transportation Safety Commission (KNKT) official carries debris from the crashed Lion Air flight JT610 at Tanjung Priok port in Jakarta, Indonesia November 4, 2018. /VCG Photo

The acting administrator of the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Dan Elwell, said the FAA and NTSB had teams of experts in Indonesia at the government's request.

"Any action the FAA would take regarding that incident would have to wait until we have findings, until we have information," Elwell said in Washington.

Indonesia has not formally requested fleet-wide checks on 737 MAX jets and none are planned pending more data, a person familiar with the matter said, on condition of anonymity.

Investigators have not disclosed any reports of other airspeed failures on the aircraft.

The FAA, which regulates the US aviation industry, has not received any reports of airspeed issues with the model in the United States, said a person familiar with its reviews, who asked not to be named as he was not authorized to speak.

Navy divers head out for searching of the wreckage, November 6, 2018. /VCG Photo

It was not immediately clear whether the problem with the crashed jet stemmed from a mechanical or maintenance issue.

"We don't know yet where the problem lies, what repair has been done, what their reference books are, what components have been removed," said Nurcahyo Utomo, the KNKT sub-committee head for air accidents.

"These are the things we are trying to find out: what was the damage and how it was fixed."

Safety experts say it is too early to determine the cause of the crash on Monday last week of the flight from Jakarta to the tin-mining town of Pangkal Pinang.

Authorities have yet to recover the jet's cockpit voice recorder from the sea floor, just northeast of Jakarta, where the plane crashed 13 minutes into its flight.

Tearful relatives demand answers

Relatives of the victims demanded answers on Monday as to why the plane had been passed fit to fly and called for no let up in the search for loved ones.

Indonesian authorities on Sunday extended by three days the search for victims and a second black box recorder from the wreckage of the nearly new Boeing 737 MAX.

Families of victims of Lion Air flight JT 610 weep as they are meeting with authorities of the Lion Air management, November 5, 2018. /VCG Photo

"We are the victims here. Imagine if you were in our position," said Najib Fuquoni, a relative of a victim, demanding an independent investigation into the crash.

Muhammad Bambang Sukandar, the father of another victim, said Lion Air technicians needed to take "full responsibility" if it was proved they had not properly attended to technical issues following the jet's previous flight from Bali to Jakarta.

"This is not an unimportant thing. These are people's lives," he said, as he sought to choke back tears.

(Cover Photo: Rescue team members carry the ruins of the crashed Lion Air flight JT610 during search operations from the sea in the waters off Tanjung Karawang, Indonesia, November 3, 2018. /VCG Photo)

Source(s): Reuters