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A6 WORLD NEWS
Wednesday 13 January 2021

Divers recover crashed Indonesian plane’s data recorder

By NINIEK KARMINI and been badly hit by the pan-
ANDI JATMIKO demic, with travel restric-
Associated Press tions and sharp declines
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) in passengers. According
— Indonesian navy divers to Transportation Ministry
searching the ocean floor data, the jet didn’t fly from
on Tuesday recovered March 23 to Dec. 19.
the flight data recorder The U.S. Federal Aviation
from a Sriwijaya Air jet that Administration sent an air-
crashed into the Java Sea worthiness directive requir-
with 62 people on board. ing operators of various
The device is expected Boeing 737 aircraft models,
to help investigators de- including the 737-500, to
termine what caused the carry out engine checks
Boeing 737-500 to nosedive before they can be flown
into the ocean in heavy again after being out of
rain shortly after taking off service, Director General
from Jakarta on Saturday. of Air Transportation Novie
The 26-year-old jet had Riyanto said in a statement.
been out of service for al- He said the plane was in-
most nine months because spected on Dec. 2, includ-
of flight cutbacks caused ing checks for engine cor-
by the coronavirus pan- rosion, and was declared
demic, officials said. It re- Members of the National Transportation Safety Committee carry a box containing the flight data airworthy by the Transpor-
sumed commercial flights recorder from the Sriwijaya Air flight SJ-182 retrieved from the Java Sea where the passenger jet tation Ministry on Dec. 14.
last month. crashed at the Tanjung Priok Port, Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021. The plane made an initial
TV stations showed divers Associated Press flight without passengers
on an inflatable raft with the search. is also a flight attendant tion Safety Committee, So- on Dec. 19 and resumed
a large white container More than 3,600 rescue for Sriwijaya Air, shared her erjanto Tjahjono, ruled out commercial flights on Dec.
containing the flight data personnel, 13 helicopters, grief in a series of posts on a possible midair breakup 22, according to ministry
recorder heading to a Ja- 54 large ships and 20 small social media. after seeing the condition data.
karta port. boats are searching the “My husband is a loving, of the wreckage found by The disaster has reignited
Military chief Air Chief Mar- area just north of Jakarta devout and super kind searchers. concerns about safety in
shal Hadi Tjahjanto said the where Flight 182 crashed man,” she wrote on Ins- He said the jet was intact the aviation industry, which
plane’s other “black box,” and have found parts of the tagram. “Heaven is your until it struck the water, grew quickly after the
the cockpit voice recorder, plane and human remains place, dear ... be peaceful concentrating the debris economy was opened fol-
was likely to be found soon in the water at a depth of there.” field, rather than spreading lowing the fall of dictator
because its beacon was 23 meters (75 feet). Anguished family members it out over a large area as Suharto in the late 1990s.
being emitted in the same So far, the searchers have have been providing sam- would be seen with a mid- The United States banned
area. sent 74 body bags contain- ples for DNA tests, and the air event. Indonesian carriers from
The devices were buried in ing human remains to po- National Police disaster vic- Tjahjono said the plane operating in the country
seabed mud under tons of lice identification experts tim identification unit said continued to send altitude in 2007, lifting the action in
sharp objects in the plane’s who on Monday said they it has identified three more data until it descended to 2016, citing improvements
wreckage, navy Chief had identified their first vic- victims, including the co- 250 feet (75 meters) above in compliance with interna-
Adm. Yudo Margono said. tim, 29-year-old flight atten- pilot. the water’s surface. tional aviation standards.
He said at least 160 divers dant Okky Bisma. The chairman of Indone- As in many countries, Indo- The European Union lifted a
were deployed Tuesday in His wife, Aldha Refa, who sia’s National Transporta- nesia’s aviation industry has similar ban in 2018.q

Turkey says its ready to repair frayed ties with Europe

By SUZAN FRASER steps which he said were a list of sanctions against
Associated Press escalating tensions. Turkey over its exploration
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Erdogan’s address comes of gas reserves in waters
Turkish President Recep as Turkey, a candidate to claimed by EU members
Tayyip Erdogan said Tues- join the EU, has been strik- Greece and Cyprus, but
day his country is ready ing a more conciliatory has postponed the punitive
to put its frayed relation- tone toward its Western measures until March.
ship with the European allies, following deep rifts “We as a nation plan our fu-
Union “back on track” and last year that brought Turk- ture together with Europe.”
called on the 27-nation ish and Greek naval forces Erdogan told the ambas-
bloc to display the same shadowing each other in sadors. “Regardless of all
determination. In an ad- the eastern Mediterranean the double standards and
dress to EU nations’ ambas- over conflicting energy injustice we have faced
sadors in Ankara, Erdogan prospecting claims. Last in this process, we never
also expressed hope that year, the leaders of France gave up on our final goal
a recent decision by Turkey and Turkey engaged in a of full membership.”
and Greece to restart talks series of terse exchange of Erdogan said: “We are
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks to reporters
following a Cabinet meeting, in Ankara, Turkey, Monday, Jan. aimed at resolving their words due to divergences ready to put our relations
11, 2021. disputes will “herald a new over the conflicts in Syria back on track and we ex-
Associated Press era,” but at the same time and Libya, among other is- pect the EU to show the
called on Greece to avoid sues. The EU has drawn up same determination.”q