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Footage Shows Wreckage Of Indonesian Aircraft After Fatal Crash

Footage Shows Wreckage Of Indonesian Aircraft After Fatal Crash

The aeroplane crashed shortly after take off with 62 people on board

Tom Wood

Tom Wood

The wreckage of the passenger aircraft that crashed into the sea off Indonesia has been shown in footage taken by divers scouring the crash site.

The divers are hoping that they'll be able to find the black boxes from the aeroplane, which crashed on Saturday with 62 people on board.

The Sriwijaya Air Boeing 737-500 is now in pieces on the ocean floor, along with all of the items brought by passengers, including a child's Marvel backpack.

All of those who were on board, including seven children and three babies, were Indonesian.

The rescue operation includes around 2,600 personnel, who are helping to remove the debris, as well as the bodies of the passengers, in the hope of finding out what caused the plane to suddenly lose altitude and crash into the 75 foot deep sea.

Body bags full of remains have been taken to a police hospital in the hope that they can be identified via their DNA by comparing it to living relatives.

Indonesian Navy

The plane - which crashed just four minutes after taking off - is about 26 years old, and the investigators have no idea yet what caused the tragic incident.

However, they hope that they can find the flight recorders and get a better idea of what caused the crash.

The bright orange boxes - often known as black boxes - are capable of surviving extreme heat and at vast depths.

They emit a beacon signal that should allow the recovery team to hunt them down and extract the data, shedding new light on the incident.

The flight recorders take in information regarding the speed, altitude, and direction of the aircraft, as well as conversations between the flight crew.

Aviation experts claim that they can help to explain around 90 percent of all crashes.

Indonesian Navy

The pilot of this craft was a 54-year-old Indonesian man called Afwan. The father-of-three was a former air force pilot who had decades of flight experience under his belt.

Speaking to the BBC, his nephew described him as a 'good man'.

Ferza Mahardhika said: "He was a very good man. He often gave advice, wise advice. He was a prominent figure in his neighbourhood and was well-known for his kindness."

Investigators from the Indonesian National Transportation Safety Committee believe that the jet broke apart upon entering the water given the observations of the wreckage made so far.

Nurcahyo Utomo said: "We don't know for sure, but if we look at the debris, they're scattered in an area that is not too wide.

"It possibly ruptured when it hit waters because if it had exploded midair, the debris would be distributed more widely."

Featured Image Credit: Indonesian Navy

Topics: World News, travel, Asia