A Bali native and Sriwijaya Air flight attendant, Mia Zet Setiani Wadu, was on board flight SJY-182 as it lost contact with Air Traffic Control (ATC) four minutes after takeoff from Jakarta on Saturday (9/1).
The flight was delayed due to weather conditions as it departed from Soekarno-Hatta Airport at 2:36pm with 43 adult passengers, 7 children, 3 infants and 12 crew members.
Indonesian Transportation Minister, Budi Karya Sumardi explained that the radar lost contact with the aircraft seconds after the pilot asked ATC to change its altitude to 29,000 ft.
“The airplane was officially lost from our radar at 2:40pm” said Budi during a virtual press conference on Saturday evening (9/1).
SJY-182, which was scheduled to fly from Jakarta to Pontianak, West Kalimantan, disappeared from the radar off the coast of Kepulauan Seribu, north of Jakarta.
Government officials immediately deployed Search and Rescue (SAR), Marine Force and Coastal Police to begin the search.
Cabin crew member, Mia Zet Setiani Wadu from Denpasar, Bali was on duty during the incident.
“Mia was on board as cabin crew. Please pray for her,” said Mia’s uncle, Johny Lay on Sunday (10/1).
Mia had been working as cabin crew for Sriwijaya Air for nearly five years leading up to the incident.
Prior to the incident, Sriwijaya Air had been using the Boeing B737-500 since 1994.
Officers continue their search for the missing aircraft and its passengers, while family members of the victims wait anxiously for answers.
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