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No Survivors from Lion Air Plane Crash with 189 Passengers

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KARAWANG, Indonesia (AP) - A search and rescue agency official says he's not expecting any survivors from the Lion Air plane that crashed into seas off Jakarta with 189 people aboard.
 
The operations director at the agency, Bambang Suryo Aji, says the search effort is focusing on finding bodies. He said six body bags have been used so far for human remains recovered.
 
Aji said the location of the plane hull hasn't been identified yet. Waters where it sank are up to 30 meters (100 feet) deep.
 
The search is currently planned to last seven days and could be extended.
 
Indonesian aviation and transport safety officials say the plane had been cleared by air traffic controllers to return to Jakarta's airport following a request from its pilot about two to three minutes after takeoff.
 
The plane, which was delivered to Lion Air in August, crashed about 13 minutes after taking off.
 
Novie Riyanto, the head of AirNav, which manages air traffic in Indonesia, said the pilot made a "RTB" or return to base request "just two or three minutes after it took off and the ATC has approved."
 
At the same news conference, a Lion Air official said there were two foreigners on board the plane: its pilot, originally from New Delhi, and an Italian citizen.
 
An Indian Embassy official in Jakarta says one of the pilots of a Lion Air plane that crashed in Indonesia was an Indian citizen.
 
Debashis Biswas identified the pilot as Bhavye Suneja.
 
He said there were no Indian passengers on board the flight, which crashed minutes after takeoff early Monday.
 
Indonesian President Joko Widodo ordered the National Commission for Transportation Safety to investigate crash of a Lion Air plane. He said rescuers are making their best efforts to find victims and urged Indonesians "to keep on praying."
 
Widodo, speaking in Bali where he was attending a conference, said he feels the anxiety of families and hopes they can remain calm while rescuers are working hard at the crash location at sea northeast of Jakarta.
 
Lion Air's president says the plane that crashed into the sea Monday had a technical problem on its last flight that was resolved.
 
Airline President Edward Sirait said Monday the technical problem on Boeing 737 Max 8 plane was resolved in accordance with the manufacturer's procedures. He wasn't more specific but said the problem on the earlier flight would be part of the investigation of Monday's crash.
 
Separately, Indonesia's Directorate-General of Air Transportation said the flight from Jakarta to Pangkal Pinang requested to return to Jakarta shortly after takeoff from the capital's airport. The plane crashed into the sea about 13 minutes after takeoff.
 
In a statement about the tragedy, the air transportation agency's spokesman Sindu Rahayu said, "The plane had requested a return to base before disappearing from the radar." It gave no other details about the request.
 
Boeing says it is "deeply saddened" by the crash of a Lion Air plane off the Indonesian coast and offered to help with the investigation.
 
The 737 Max 8 plane was bound for Pangkal Pinang on an island chain off Sumatra.

 

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