The accident can splatter to the president of the country, close to the owner of the air group
The authorities have for dead to the 189 people who were travelling on the plane
The pilots of the plane Boeing 737 Lion Air had alerted her superiors that the device had registered problems with the sensors that measure the altitude and speed on the flight the day prior to the disaster between Denpasar and Jakarta, which did not prevent that, after a review, the company indonesia gave approval to continue in service.
The information was confirmed Wednesday by the spokesman for Lion Air, Danag Mandala Prihantoro. The authorities have already announced the dismissal of the technical director of this company and of various subordinates. The investigations are now focused precisely on the alleged repair was performed in the device the night before the tragic event, in which it is supposed to have killed 189 people traveling on board.
The rescue teams were assured this Thursday that they have recovered one of two black boxes of the apparatus, the analysis of which could shed more information on this tragedy.
Wednesday said they have located the main part of the fuselage-where it is believed that most of the bodies-, but still have not been able to rescue him due to the wave conditions and the tidal zone.
The problems in the reading of the altitude of the airplanes have already been the cause of several aircraft accidents, including the one that suffered an Air France flight in 2009 in the Atlantic Ocean.
“of course, the managers say that the problem had been solved but we have to find out if this issue is addressed according to appropriate procedures and tests were conducted before” the plane back to the service, said Chappy Hakim, a former high-ranking officer of the air force indonesia daily The Jakarta Post.
Members of the rescue team looking for the remains of the plane crash. EFE
The first recorded data by the satellite navigation system show that the Boeing 737 saw a “speed increase” and “decrease of the altitude in the last transmission”, lowering of 1470 meters to 106 in just 25 seconds, an indication that, according to the experts confirms the suspicions that keep the researchers in relation to the operation of the sensors.
This kind of declines as defendants are not standard in the handling of the aircraft, explained John Cox, a former pilot and president of the Operating System Security, to Bloomberg. The same analyst said that it is normal to pass some 457 metres to 600 in a minute, but not so accelerated.
The airport officials in Jakarta had already admitted that the pilot asked to return these facilities to the 2 or 3 minutes of having taken off.
“When the pilot asked to return to the base, is that he knows he is facing a problem that does not allow the airplane to continue flying,” added Chappy.
Penalties very hard
The minister of Transport, Budi Karya Sumadi, said that if “it confirms that there was any negligence committed by the carrier, we will impose sanctions, very tough, according to the law.” The politician clarified that such sentences can be extended not only to the employees or officers of the firm, but also to the whole company.
A possible finding of errors in the revision of the device could result in a controversy that threatens to splash the president of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, as the founder of Lion Air, it was none other than the entrepreneur Rusdi Kirana, who currently serves as the ambassador of that country in Malaysia and went on to become part of the presidential advisory council until 2015.
Lion Air is part of a large conglomerate that includes 6 airlines and several hotels, which are controlled ultimately by the Rusdi.
The millionaire went on Tuesday to the Jakarta hotel where they housed the families of the victims for “asking for forgiveness” and said that he would accept any “penalty” if the inquiry confirms that there was negligence.
Since it was founded in 1999, Lion Air has recorded numerous accidents, including one which killed 25 people in the city of Solo in 2004.
The company remained for years in the black lists of the USA and the European Union precisely for failing to conform to the safety standards of those territories.
“The way in which it carries out its day to day operations reflect that the accident is the result of how management deals with the day to day operations. There are a high number of complaints from its customers”, stated the aforementioned Chappy Hakim, this time in a statement to Efe.
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