JAKARTA – A top member of the Indonesia Diving Rescue Team has died while searching for remains of Lion Air Flight JT-610.
Search and rescue officials identified him as veteran diver Syachrul Anto, 48. He died while carrying out search missions in the sea where the Boeing 737 crashed six days ago.
Anto’s body was then taken to the search agency command post following the diving accident at about 4 pm western Indonesian time on Friday and later to a hospital for autopsy, a statement by rescue agency BASARNAS said on Saturday.
He was described as a rescue “hero” by his commanders; and friends on Facebook said he was the lead diver to enter the fuselage of an Air Asia Airbus A320 which crashed in the Java Sea on December 28, 2014.
All on board that flight – 155 passengers and crew – perished when the Air Asia flight crashed in bad weather.
“At the request of the family, the body was flown to Surabaya on Saturday (3/11/2018) morning at 05.00 WIB to be buried in his parents’ house,” BASARNAS said.
“I am deeply sorry for the death of a humanitarian hero from Indonesian Diving Rescue Team,” said a commander who made the announcement.
Friends paid tributes to the family man and offered prayers on his Facebook page.
Meanwhile, a second portion of landing gear and portions of the fuselage along with more bodies have been retrieved.
A total of 73 body bags have now been delivered to a police hospital for identification. There were 189 passengers and crew on board.
“The SAR team also found other aircraft wheels, parts of the fuselage, including parts of the body of a victim who had not been evacuated to the post.”
The Lion Air Flight crashed 13 minutes after takeoff from Jakarta’s international airport. The same plane had problems on a previous flight.
Experts have provided data that shows the aircraft had erratic altitude and speed configuration before smashing into the sea.
The Flight Data Recorder has been found and is being analyzed. However a search continues for the Cockpit Voice Recorder which would provide clues about pilot conversations as well as ambient sounds.
