[imagesource: Adek Berry / AFP]

On Saturday, Sriwijaya Air’s flight SJ182 left Jakarta with 62 people on board, before vanishing from the radar on its way to Borneo, roughly 90 minutes away.

The plane was found to have crashed into the Java Sea, shattering on impact and leaving no known survivors.

Rescue and search teams have been working around the clock to retrieve debris and body parts from the ocean.

The main task, apart from identifying the dead at this stage, is to locate the black boxes, which will provide clues as to the cause of the crash.

According to the BBC, while search teams believe that they know roughly where the black boxes are, the black box locator that they were using to pinpoint its location is damaged.

They are waiting for a new locator to arrive.

Image: Rescue teams searching for Sriwijaya Air Flight SJY182, Demy Sanjaya/AFP

In the meantime, divers are searching the ocean floor:

Indonesia’s transport ministry said on Tuesday that the plane passed an airworthiness inspection last month.

Per Reuters, Nurcahyo Utomo, an investigator at Indonesia’s National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT), says that the plane appeared to have been intact upon impact judging by the contained area in which the debris scattered.

Image: Health workers spray disinfectant on body bags, Aditya Aji/AFP

They’ve also determined that the engine was still running when the plane hit the water based on the damage on recovered parts.

“The damage on the fan blade showed that the engine was still working on impact,” KNKT chief Soerjanto Tjahjono said in a statement.

Image: Wreckage retrieved near Lancang Island, Adek Berry/AFP

“This is consistent with the hypothesis that the plane’s system was still working at an altitude of 250 feet (76 metres),” he said, noting the plane was transmitting data at that altitude.

Rescuers have managed to find one of the jet’s turbines, pieces of the plane’s tail, the rim of a wheel, and an emergency chute, as well as clothing and personal belongings from passengers.

Image: Rescue workers sifting through the wreckage at the port in Jakarta, Dany Krisnadhi/ AFP

The first victim of the crash to be identified is flight attendant Okky Bism.

“My super kind husband… Heaven is your place… Until we meet again darling,” Okky’s wife, who is also a flight attendant, wrote on her Instagram account.

The probe, even after the black boxes are found, is likely to take months, with some speculating that it could take over a year.

[sources:bbc&reuters]