Singapore transport safety investigators in Jakarta to assist with Sriwijaya Air crash

SINGAPORE, Jan 17, 2021, CNA. A team from Singapore’s Transport Safety Investigation Bureau is assisting with the probe into the Sriwijaya Air plane crash, said Singapore’s Ministry of Transport on Sunday (Jan 17), CNA reported.

The two investigators arrived in Jakarta on Wednesday after Indonesia’s National Transportation Safety Committee accepted Singapore’s offer to help with the investigation.

Flight SJ182 lost contact with air traffic controllers minutes after taking off from Jakarta during heavy rain on Jan 9. The Boeing 737-500 crashed into the Java Sea, killing all 62 people on board.

Singapore’s Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung said the two investigators are working with the Indonesian team to look at the recovered data and wreckage.

“Alexander Leong specialises in flight recorders and is working with the National Transportation Safety Committee’s team in Jakarta to look at recovered data.

“David Lim, a licensed aircraft maintenance engineer, is with the team at Tanjung Priok port looking through the wreckage that has been recovered so far,” said Mr Ong in a Facebook post on Sunday.

The pair have 18 years of air incident investigation experience between them, the minister said in a Facebook post.

Mr Ong added: “It is meticulous, complex work. Some data has already been recovered. We hope for more positive developments in the coming days.”

A team from the US National Transportation Safety Board is also in Jakarta to help with the investigation, Indonesian authorities said on Saturday.

The American team consists of representatives from the US Federal Aviation Administration, Boeing and General Electric.

They joined the Singapore team at the search and rescue command centre at Tanjung Priok port in Jakarta to view some of the plane debris.

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