The Jakarta Post, January 09, 2007
Searchers find undersea debris
ID Nugroho and Andi Hajramurni, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya, Makassar
An Indonesian Navy ship has detected three metal objects on the ocean floor, but
officials are not certain whether they are wreckage from an Adam Air plane which
disappeared a week ago in the vicinity of Sulawesi.
"At 3 a.m. on Monday there was a significant signal caught by the Navy ship, showing
there were objects under the water," the Navy's Eastern Fleet spokesman Lt. Col.
Tony Saiful said in Surabaya on Monday.
"It is clearly metal, but we cannot confirm what it is. We may lower a mini-submarine
for underwater observation," Saiful said as quoted by Reuters.
The metal debris was reportedly detected in three spots north of the West Sulawesi
town of Mamuju.
"Four other Navy ships have been deployed to the location ...we'll just wait for the
results," Saiful said.
He added that as the objects were found about 1,050 meters under the sea, the ships
were not able to determine whether they belonged to the wreckage of the missing
plane.
"Let us pray that the objects really belong to the Adam Air plane. But we will continue
investigating them," Saiful said.
The debris was located based on information from local fishermen, identified as
Baharudin and Gusman.
The two men from Salo village, Pom Pom district in Mamuju regency reported to the
local Navy post that they spotted a plane flying low on Jan. 1, the day the Adam Air
flight went missing.
"We followed up the information and caught the signal of the objects from the Navy
ship Fatahillah," Saiful said.
The Adam Air plane disappeared in bad weather after the pilot reported crosswinds
and asked for safe coordinates from the airport in Makassar, the capital of South
Sulawesi province.
But he did not issue a mayday call or report any malfunctions.
The USNS Mary Sears, a U.S. ship with sonar capability and the ability to detect
metal underwater, will arrive on Tuesday to join the search, which already includes at
least four ships, two Indonesian air force planes, two helicopters, and thousands of
troops and police on the ground.
"We are waiting for the U.S. ship which could help us with its high technology," Saiful
was quoted by Reuters as saying.
Indonesian officials will be cautious in announcing any discovery after erroneously
saying the plane had been spotted in Sulawesi's mountains on Tuesday. Officials later
said accounts from a local village were relayed to the highest level without being
checked.
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