Willing To Leave Their Children And Wives, Volunteer Divers Depart From Makassar To Help Find Sriwijaya Air SJ-182

Makmur Ajie Panangean (54 years), a diver from Makassar who volunteers to search for Sriwijaya Air SJ-182 (Diah Ayu / VOI)

JAKARTA - Makmur Ajie Panangean (54 years) hurriedly prepared himself to go to Jakarta when he heard the news that the Sriwijaya Air SJ-182 plane had crashed in the waters of the Thousand Islands.

Armed with diving experience at the Indonesian Diving Sports Association (POSSI), Ajie departed from Makassar and registered as a volunteer diver at the JICT II Integrated Command Post, Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, along with several other fellow divers.

"As soon as we hear this news, we are ready. Because we are already a team, the incident yesterday I was always there to donate to help. That's our soul, rather than for fun, we better use this skill so that it can be useful for others. "said Adji when met at the JICT II Integrated Command Post, Tuesday, January 12.

When met in the POSSI tent located in the JICT II Posko area, Ajie was chatting with other colleagues. He was waiting for his turn to be assigned by Basarnas to board the ship to the location for searching for victims and materials for Sriwijaya Air SJ-182.

When asked to prepare, Ajie admitted that he would alert diving equipment such as oxygen cylinders and the like. He has not carried any burden since departing from Makassar. This is because Aji has received the blessing of his family for a humanitarian mission.

"Children and wives have given permission to support. So, we say goodbye to the family because we are called to do this. The motivation is to use the knowledge we have for humanity," he said.

Ajie has been in diving for 12 years. Everyday, he works as a diving instructor. Even though he has been in the world of diving for a long time, Ajie admitted that he had a sense of concern when he registered to join the Sriwijaya Air SJ-182 dive team.

Sriwijaya Air SJ-182 volunteer diver dive post in JICT2 Jakarta

"Worry is natural in every diver, because we enter into another world. A very different world, a world that we don't know what's down there. So, we trust God, we believe we are knocking at the entrance. to someone's house, "said Ajie.

However, that did not deter Ajie from helping the SAR team find victims until the black box of the plane that crashed on Saturday, January 9. Ajie admitted that he was ready to leave the next day.

"The plan is tomorrow. Actually, the information is leaving today, we have prepared everything, all the equipment, but there is information that there is trouble with the ship that we want to board, so we just wait for news," he added.