Minister Of Transportation Budi Karya: Thank You President Jokowi For Calling Questions About Sriwijaya SJ-182

Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) together with Minister of Transportation Budi Karya. (Photo by: Setkab)

JAKARTA - Minister of Transportation (Menhub) Budi Karya Sumadi hopes that the collaboration of the joint team can continue to run well to find the black box Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) of the Sriwijaya Air SJ 182 aircraft that crashed in the waters of the Thousand Islands on Saturday, January 9.

"As it is known that the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) was found. We would like to thank the Joint Team from the TNI, PORI, Basarnas, KNKT, and other relevant stakeholders who have worked well. We hope that the search collaboration can continue well, because CVR still to be found, as well as the bodies of the victims and several pieces of the plane that must be found, "said the Minister of Transportation, quoted from Antara, Wednesday, January 13.

Last Tuesday, the Joint Team managed to find the FDR black box from the Sriwijaya SJ182 plane at around 14.00 WIB in the waters of the Thousand Islands. The discovery of the black box was officially conveyed by the Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi together with TNI Commander Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto, Chief of Naval Staff (Kasal) Admiral TNI Yudo Margono, Head of Basarnas Bagus Puruhito, and Chairman of the KNKT Soerjanto Tjahjono at the JICT 2 Command Post at Tanjung Priok Port.

Then the FDR was officially handed over by the TNI Commander to the Head of Basarnas, and then it would be submitted by the Chairman of the NTSC for further investigation. On this occasion, the Minister of Transportation delivered three instructions from President Joko Widodo, namely first, handling the disaster must be fast, namely the black box, the body of the victim, and pieces of the plane must be removed immediately.

Second, compensation and insurance for the victim's family (heirs) must be immediately provided in accordance with applicable regulations. Third, the cause of the accident must be found immediately and become a lesson for the national aviation industry so that the same incident does not happen again.

"Thank you to the President who is so intense in contacting us so that we get moral support and our performance will be better. We hope that the collaboration of the Joint Team will continue until everything is found," said the Minister of Transportation.

Meanwhile, TNI Commander Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto said that he received information from the Chief of Naval Staff (Kasal) that on Tuesday FDR had been found at 14.00 WIB. Furthermore, the Divers Team will continue to look for other parts of the CVR black box, the bodies of the victims, and pieces of aircraft parts.

"The search operation has not been completed, we will continue to search for bodies, as well as other parts of the aircraft in order to complete the data required by the National Police DVI and NTSC. With professional work and supported by qualified tools, we will soon be able to find other parts," he said Hadi.

The head of Basarnas Bagus Puruhito said that 24 body bags had been recovered and one bag containing particles from the plane.

"In the future, we will continue to ask for support from the TNI, POLRI and other related agencies so that the search can continue smoothly and be well completed," he said.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the NTSC Soerjanto Tjahjono said that with the discovery of the FDR, the NTSC could immediately read the data which would take 2-5 days.

"Hopefully it can immediately reveal what caused the crash of this plane and become a lesson so that this incident does not happen again in the future. Because the purpose of the investigation by the NTSC is to improve safety," said Soerjanto.

The handover of FDR to the NTSC was also witnessed by Jasa Raharja Budi Rahardjo and Sriwijaya Air Director Jefferson Irwin Jauwena.