Adam Aircraft Missing
Tuesday, 02 January, 2007 | 12:34 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Surabaya: Adam Air flight number DHI 574 is missing during the journey from Surabaya to Manado. The plane lost contact with Hasanuddin Airport, Makassar and Sam Ratulangi Airport, Manado, yesterday (1/1).

According to Mulyono, Duty Manager of Juanda Airport, Surabaya, the plane that carried 96 passengers including crew, took off from Juanda at 12.59 WIB (Western Indonesian Time). The plane was piloted by Captain Repri A. Widodo with co-pilot Yoga and four flight attendants Verawati, Nining, Dita and Ratih.

One hour later, or at 14.25 (Central Indonesian Time), the plane should have arrived at Makassar. Both Hasanuddin Airport and Sam Ratulangi Airport tried to find out if the plane had an emergency landing at Sepinggan Airport, Balikpapan or other airports along the route of the Boeing 737-40, number KI-574. The plane should have landed at Manado at 15.15 local time. “There was no confirmation that the aircraft had an emergency landing at another airport,” said Mulyono.

When the plane lost contact, according to him, the weather around Makassar was bad. It is estimated that at that time the plane was 35,000 feet high above Mamuju Island. According to Hasanuddin Airport Commander, TNI (Indonesian Military) Marshall Eddy Suyanto, the Emergency Locator Beacon (Elba) signal was at a height of 6,268 meter.

Although the plane was alleged to be around Mamuju, West Sulawesi, “It isn’t known whether it had an emergency landing or it crashed,” said Adam Air’s Safety and Security Director Capt. Hartono. He explained that the plane was missing from radar at 15.07.

Director General of Air Transportation at the Transportation Department, Muhamad Iksan, said it is estimated that the plane encountered disturbances due to bad weather. On February 11 last year, Adam Air’s aircraft number DHI 782 with Jakarta-Makassar route was also lost and landed at Tambolaka, West Sumba, East Nusa Tenggara.

Kukuh Wibowo, Joniansyah and Irmawati