Indonesia’s crashed plane likely ruptured when hitting waters, says Chief investigator

Jakarta [Indonesia]: Head of Indonesia’s National Transportation Safety Committee Soerjanto Tjahjono said on Monday that the Sriwijaya Airplane with 62 people on board that crashed into waters off Jakarta on Saturday might break apart when hitting waters.

“The plane was possibly ruptured when it hit the waters. This indicates that the plane remained intact in the air and it did not explode,” Tjahjono told Xinhua.
He said most pieces of the debris are in small parts and not scattered far away.

“All pieces of the debris are located in one area only,” said Tjahjono.

Rescuers are attempting to find the two black boxes of the plane, and signals of the devices have been caught clearly, Operation Director of the Search and Rescue Agency Rasman MS said.

The Boeing 737-500 aircraft, flying from the capital Jakarta to Pontianak city in West Kalimantan province on Saturday afternoon, crashed into the Java Sea off the Seribu District in north of Jakarta.

It was carrying 50 passengers, including seven children and three babies, and 12 crew members.