Indonesia continues search after deadly plane crash

More than a dozen helicopters, 53 navy ships, and 2,600 rescue workers resumed their search on Monday for the black boxes of the Sriwijaya Air jet. The Boeing 737-500 jet crashed into the Java Sea after it went off radar minutes after departing from the Indonesian capital of Jakarta during heavy rain on Saturday with 62 people on board. Rescue workers have recovered plane parts and human remains, but no survivors.

Any clue yet on what caused the crash? Soerjanto Tjahjono, chairman of Indonesia's National Transportation Safety Committee, said the black boxes would help investigators understand what happened. Tjahjono said the debris was mostly concentrated in one area, signaling the jet was intact when it hit the water. The United States’ National Transportation Safety Board will aid the investigation. In 2018, 189 people died after a Lion Air Boeing 737 MAX 8 also plunged into the Java Sea minutes after takeoff.

Dig deeper: From WORLD archives, read my 2019 report in The Sift on the Lion Air crash report.

Editor's note: WORLD has updated this report since its initial posting.