737 Missing over Java Sea.

[TheGreenGoblin]

A Boeing Co. jet with 62 people aboard is missing after losing contact with Indonesia’s aviation authorities shortly after takeoff from Jakarta.

Sriwijaya Air Flight SJ182 was scheduled to depart from the nation’s capital to Pontianak on the island of Borneo at 1:40 p.m. local time, according to FlightRadar24 data, which tracked the plane plunging from 10,900 feet in altitude to 250 feet before it dropped off of the radar. The 26-year-old 737-500 aircraft is a much older model than the 737 Max that was grounded for 20 months in 2019 after two fatal crashes, including a Lion Air disaster that killed 189 people in 2018.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/bo ... r-BB1cBvcK

[Boac]

This, from Av Herald, does not bode well:

"On Jan 15th 2021 the Indonesian Navy reported that the pinger of the CVR and parts of the housing were found and recovered, however, the CVR's memory unit is still missing. The search for the memory unit is still ongoing."

FDR recovered earlier and reportedly 'serviceable and down-loadable'.

[Boac]

There have been 'rumours' circulating for a while of throttle issues and I gather from Av Herald that Bloomberg (paywalled for me) are hinting at this, and that some sort of inspections have been ordered.

Certainly A/T clutch failure on the 737 (an exercise on one of my sim checks somewhere in history) can be dramatic.

[TheGreenGoblin]

Throttle asymmetry, perhaps, taken for an engine failure on the engine with the lower setting. Pilot fails the engine at the lower setting and the aircraft rolls over and descends in a steeply banked spiral dive that is not recovered and it all goes to hell in a hand cart! Aircraft suffers structural failure and "plunges" into the sea!

I think I deserve the ops-normal medal with gold **** for the most "Unwarranted Piece of Supposition This Year" award with the Daily Mail Oak Leaf for the word "plunge"!....

[Boac]

Apparently early indications for the FDR show an A/T malfunction. https://www.airlive.net/breaking-fdr-da ... -properly/

[Boac]

Now confirmed in the preliminary report. Link from Av Herald acknowledged http://knkt.dephub.go.id/knkt/ntsc_avia ... Report.pdf

Events are puzzling.

[TheGreenGoblin]

Surely they didn't just sit on the their hands and twiddle their toes as the aircraft yawed and banked at an ever greater angle to port?

[Boac]

Well, if you don't your arms will just flail around when you invert.

[PHXPhlyer]

Boac:

+1

PP

[TheGreenGoblin]

Well, if you don't your arms will just flail around when you invert.

That'll "learn me" for piping up!

[Boac]

Brilliant news and well done to the divers. Reports that the CVR components have been found.

With acknowledgements to AvHerald:

"On Mar 31st 2021 the memory module of the cockpit voice recorder was found and recovered, Indonesia's Transport Minister reported and the KNKT confirmed.

A press conference is about to begin. The livestream of the press conference to begin just shows a coast guard vessel dock at the place of intended press conference. (05:02Z)

The press conference has just started (05:20Z). We are following the press conference.

The memory module was found at approximately 20:00L on Tuesday Mar 30th 2021 about 500 meters off the coast of Pulau Laki (Laki Island) at a depth of 14 meters below 16cm of mud. This suggests the CVR memory module was found about 4700 meters westnorthwest of the last ADS-B position of the aircraft.

The KNKT estimates it will take between 3 days and a week to download the CVR data. Following the preparation of the download in a lab, download of the data the CVR and FDR will be synchronised and a transcript will be made. This then permits to analyse the situation in the cockpit.

The press conference has ended (05:48Z), the KNKT now has taken the memory module into their custody."

Hopefully a bit more of a clue.