JAKARTA - The Indonesian Air Force, which monitored and searched the Sriwijaya Air SJ-182 aircraft from the Jakarta-Pontianak route from the air, found an oil spill that was thought to have originated from a Sriwijaya plane in the south of Male Island, Seribu Islands, Jakarta.
"We can see an anomaly of change or contrast in the color of the sea surface. I assume that it is an oil spill," said Assistant Operations to the Air Force Chief of Staff (Asops Kasau) Young Air Marshal Henri Alfiandi after conducting aerial monitoring at Halim Perdanakusuma Air Base, Jakarta, reported by Antara, Sunday, January 10.
Young Air Marshal Henri Alfiandi continued, "It is very clear. The anomaly of this contrasting change and the extent of the range is very wide because it is approximately 18 hours. Approximately it was an aircraft fuel oil spill."
Asops Kasau together with a number of Indonesian Air Force personnel to monitor the air around the waters of Male Island, Thousand Islands, using an EC-725 Caracal helicopter from Air Squadron 8 Atang Sendjaja Bogor Air Base.
The observations he made were to find the Sriwijaya SJ-182 plane by flying two helicopters to the coordinates of the plane's disappearance, namely 0555 23 LS and 1063605 East Longitude.
"Then, we used the ladder system search method with a distance of 9 miles or approximately 15 km with a search distance of about 3 miles with a height ranging from 1,000 feet to approximately 300 meters. We searched 4 times," said Henri.
The location of the discovery of the oil spill, he said, was in the south of Male Island.
He also believed that it was an oil spill because the water anomaly was obvious.
"There is a distribution, a lot of material," he said.
The SAR team from the Indonesian Air Force also found many pieces of fragments that were thought to be from the Sriwijaya Air plane.
In the first search, said Henri, no suspicious objects were found. However, upon closer search they found a lot of debris.
"Lots of debris. I am not sure whether it is marine debris, what is clear is rubbish. The garbage consists of various kinds. However, our suspicion is part of the things that float easily from the plane," said Henri.
The findings have been reported to the Chief of Naval Staff (Kasal) Admiral Yudo Margono who is at KRI John Lie (358) and the post at KRI Parang-647.
"We immediately reported the findings to the post at KRI Parang and Kasal Laksamana TNI Yudo Margono," said Henri.
As previously reported, the Sriwijaya Air SJ-182 aircraft took off from Soekarno-Hatta Airport, at 14:36 WIB, Saturday, January 9. One minute later the plane to Pontianak was at an altitude of 1,700 feet and was allowed to rise to an altitude of 29 thousand feet following instrument standards.
"At 14:40 Sriwijaya did not go to 075 degrees but to the northwest, therefore ATC was asked to report the direction of the plane. Not long after, in a matter of seconds, SJY 182 disappeared from radar, "said Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi, Saturday, January 9.
There were 62 passengers including the crew of the Sriwijaya Air SJ-182 aircraft. Of the total passengers, there are 7 children and 3 babies.
The Sriwijaya Air SJ-182 aircraft had its departure delayed for 30 minutes. The reason was the heavy rain.
Follow the latest information about the development of the Sriwijaya Air SJ-182 aircraft here.
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