LANCANG ISLAND, Indonesia – Hendrik Mulyadi was checking his crabs when he heard a huge explosion on the water nearby. The sea suddenly rose and lifted the Indonesian fishing boat while smoke filled the air.
“I’m lucky it did not hit me,” he recalled Monday as he sat at his home on Lancang Island, still visibly shaken by what he saw. It was like fast, fast. It exploded when it hit the water. I saw debris floating. It was aircraft waste. ”
Mr. Hendrik (30) was one of five crab fishermen working on the water on Saturday afternoon when Sriwijaya Air Flight fell from the air 182 minutes after takeoff with 62 people on board, including ten children and babies. The plane crashed into the Java Sea, about 300 meters from where Hendrik was fishing.
Lancang is usually a sleepy island with relatively few visitors and has become a base for the aircraft search and recovery operation led by Basarnas, Indonesia’s national search and rescue agency. The accident site is less than a mile from the mangrove, coconut and banana trees on the island.
The islanders, many of whom live in colorful one-story houses, can now see dozens of ships abroad, combing the area for wreckage and corpses and trying to repair the black box.
The Sriwijaya flight, which traveled to the city of Pontianak on the island of Borneo, is the third passenger plane in just over six years to crash in the Java Sea after departing from airports on the island of Java.
Air Asia Flight 8501 crashed with 162 people aboard the Java Sea off the coast of Borneo in December 2014 as it flew from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore. Investigators eventually blamed the disaster for the failure of a key component and the improper response by the flight crew.
And in October 2018, Lion Air Flight 610 nose dives into the Java Sea northeast of Jakarta, the capital, minutes after takeoff with 189 passengers and crew aboard Pangkal Pinang. The anti-stall system crashed on the Boeing 737 Max, a different model from the plane that crashed over the weekend.
Lancang is one of the so-called Thousand Islands, which actually numbers about 110 and is spread in the Java Sea north of Jakarta. Some of the islands are popular tourist destinations. Others, such as Lancang, are almost exclusively dedicated to fishing.
“Since the Lion Air crash, I often think when I’m at sea and I see a plane pass by, what if a plane crashes here?” Mr. Henry said. ‘Here are many fishermen. We would die. ‘
Lancang is less than a mile long and a third of a mile wide and houses about 2,100 people, almost all of whom are associated with the fishing industry. The small, mostly Muslim community, is just 15 km northeast of Jakarta and one of the closest of the Thousand Islands to the city of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.
There are no cars and residents come around on foot or by car. The highway is only one lane wide and it takes less than an hour to walk around the entire island.
Few islanders have ever flown by plane. On clear days they can see how they pass overhead as they ascend from Jakarta to northern destinations. Mr. Hendrik nevertheless said that he could never have expected what happened on Saturday.
“I never thought a plane crash could happen here,” he said.
The island’s mayor, Mahtum, 47, who, like many Indonesians, uses only one name, said many families on the island make a living and lead simple lives. Lancang was virtually untouched by the coronavirus, with only three cases detected last week. But the islanders are living under the threat of tsunamis.
The highest elevation in the entire Thousand Island chain is 23 meters, making it very vulnerable to rising sea levels and the kind of extreme storms that delayed the Sriwijaya flight before take-off. Lancang’s highest point is seven feet above sea level. Some fishermen thought Saturday’s accident was a coming flood.
“Not only Lancang Island, but all islands in the Thousand Islands are threatened by high tides and strong winds due to climate change,” Mahtum said.
When the plane fell into the sea, it was so close to the island that it made windows rattle. One fisherman, Sahapi, was with his crew of one on the water and had his crab traps not far from Mr. Hendrik’s boat checked when the disaster occurred.
Mr. Sahapi, 52, a fisherman on Lancang Island since 1987, said he heard what sounded like a huge explosion. He felt the sea lift his boat and see flashes of yellow and red beneath the surface.
“I saw rubbish in the rising water,” he said. ‘Thick black smoke filled the air and the rain was heavy. The water was yellow and red. ”
At first he thought there would be a tsunami, and then he realized that Mr. Hendrik’s boat was closer to the scene of the explosion. He decided his friend must have been struck by lightning.
“I was scared of being rolled by the wave,” he said. “I looked right and left and did not see my friend’s boat.”
“I did not hear any plane noise,” he said.
He hurries home to hear the bad news from Mr. To give Henry’s death. To his relief, Mr Hendrik returned shortly afterwards and reported that there had been a plane crash.
Mr. Sahapi took police officers from the island to the scene after learning of the accident and helped them use an anchor to pull wiring and clothing from the plane.
By Sunday, searchers had located the plane’s flight data recorders and hoped to repair them soon. But it could take months before investigators determine the cause of the crash. On Monday, bodies continued to be extracted and the data recorders recovered from the wreckage.
The Sriwijaya aircraft, a Boeing 737-500, is considered to fly safely before takeoff, and the airline has never had an accident that dies on board. More than 50 ships and thousands of people are involved in the search and recovery.
Mr. Born and bred in Lancang, Henry started fishing with his father as a child and has been a fisherman ever since. His crew of two was on his 33-foot boat at the time of the crash.
He said he was still in such a shock after seeing that he did not want to go with the police to show them the location.
“I was still in trauma,” he said. ‘I was just sitting at home shivering, and I stuttered as I spoke. I have lost my appetite until now. I’m still shocked. ”
Authorities have not allowed Lancang crab fishermen to check their traps near the crash site since Saturday. Mr. Hendrik has 550 traps waiting in the sea.