REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The Lion Air JT 610 plane that crashed in the waters of Tanjung Karawang in West Java last week did not explode mid-air, National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) Chairman Soerjanto Tjahjono stated. Speaking to journalists here on Monday, Tjahjono remarked that several small pieces of the craashed plane, with 189 passengers onboard, were found.

"Hence, the plane exploded when it came into contact with water and did not explode in mid-air. If the plane explodes in mid-air, then the splinters are quite large, and we emphasize that it was still intact when it touched the water," he unveiled, adding that the plane had touched the water at high speeds.

"The splinters are small, so the speed with which the plane crashed in the water was extraordinary," he disclosed.

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The splinters were scattered far from the plane's estimated crash site. In addition, when the plane crashed, its engine was still operating, with the turbines rotating at high speed.

"The engine was on, as was indicated by the high rotation of the turbines or compressor," he stated, noting that the aircraft engine was still intact.

Turbine of Lion Air JT 610 found in the seabed of Tanjung Karawang waters, Saturday (Nov 3).

"The engine faced no problems. Parts of the engine were operating at high RPM. We say the engine speed was quite high when it crashed into the waters," he added.

Earlier, the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) has extended the period of evacuation operation to find victims of Lion Air flight JT 610 that crashed in Tanjung Karawang waters on Oct 29, for three days. The evacuation process has entered the seventh day on Sunday.

"After having dialogs and talks with the team, we have decided to extend the operation for three days. Hopefully, this operation could be completed within the next three days," M Syaugi, Basarnas chief, said here, Sunday.

The main focus of the operation is to evacuate the victims, and then to find the Cockpit Voice Record (CVR) black box by using a ping locator. The Basarnas divers found the Flight Data Record (FDR) black box last Thursday (Nov 1). The team is also still trying to find the plane's fuselage.

The crash of the Lion Air flight JT 610 plane on Oct 29, 2018, claimed all 189 people aboard. The Boeing's 737 MAX aircraft plunged into Tanjung Karawang waters in West Java Province, after some 15 minutes taking off from Jakarta en route to Pangkalpinang, Bangka Belitung.

The aircraft carried 178 adult passengers, including an Italian national; three infants; six crew members; as well as an Indian pilot and an Indonesian co-pilot. Among the passengers were tens of civil servants including 20 officers of the Finance Ministry, six legislators of Bangka Belitung, and three police officers.

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