The Jakarta Post, January 11, 2007
Adam Air search hones in on seabed
Andi Hajramurni, The Jakarta Post, Makassar
A U.S. navy ship taking part in the search for a missing Adam Air jetliner confirmed
Wednesday the presence of large metal objects on the floor of the Mamuju Sea, off
the coast of West Sulawesi.
The commander of the Indonesian Navy's Eastern Fleet, Rear Adm. Moekhlas Sidik,
said in Makassar, South Sulawesi, that despite the confirmation by the USNS Mary
Sears, an oceanographic survey ship, it was still uncertain whether the metal objects
were debris from the plane, which went missing nine days ago.
"There is no confirmation yet whether the metal objects are from the missing plane,"
Moekhlas said after returning from aboard a ship in the area.
"It will take them until 10 p.m. tonight to confirm the exact position and to figure out
what kind of object is down there," Moekhlas said as quoted by Reuters
"The USNS Mary Sears has multi-beams to receive noise frequency that will enable
them to form a silhouette. We are focusing on the coordinate that has the strongest
ping," Mockhlas told a news conference.
The spot being examined is 31 kilometers northwest of Tanjung Rengas at a depth of
1,700 meters, he said.
Commander of the Makassar air base, First Air Marshal Eddy Suyanto, said during a
later news conference that authorities had to analyze the data gathered by the USNS
Mary Sears, and a final determination might not be available until Thursday morning.
Mark Jarrett, deputy director of operations for the U.S. Naval Oceanographic Office,
said the U.S. vessel was used to conduct oceanographic surveys and map the
seabed, but that it had its limits.
"In shallow water that's not too difficult (to identify metal objects), in less than 500
meters. Any deeper ... and it will be very difficult for our ship to identify any parts,
especially if they're small," he told Reuters in Washington.
A Canadian Beechcraft King Air 200 twin turboprop plane arrived at Hasanuddin air
base in Makassar, South Sulawesi, on Tuesday, AFP reported.
It was expected to join in the aerial search for the missing aircraft later Wednesday,
said Lanang Bodi, an officer on duty at the air base's Search and Rescue Center.
Suyanto, who is heading the search operation, said the plane was carrying aerial
land-mapping equipment, metal-detecting radar and cameras.
The Adam Air Boeing 737-400 with 102 people on board vanished off radar screens on
New Year's Day, halfway through a flight from Surabaya, East Java, to Sulawesi
island in the northeast.
All contents copyright © of The Jakarta Post.
|
