Indonesian search <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/indonesia-orders-removal-of-lion-air-technical-director-after-crash-state-media-174620">and rescue workers believe</a> they have found the fuselage of a Lion Air passenger jet that crashed with 189 people on board, and are also trying to confirm the origin of an underwater "ping" signal, officials said on Wednesday.

Ground staff lost touch with flight JT610 of Indonesian budget airline Lion Air 13 minutes after the Boeing 737 MAX 8 took off early on Monday from Jakarta, on its way to the tin-mining town of Pangkal Pinang.

There were no survivors.

Indonesia's military chief said he believed the plane had been located, and a transport safety official said divers would be sent to confirm the origin of a "ping" signal picked up by a search and rescue team late on Tuesday.

"We strongly believe that we have found a part of the fuselage," armed forces chief Hadi Tjahjanto told broadcaster TV One.

Speaking on board the navy ship KRI Rigel, navy official Colonel Haris Djoko Nugroho told broadcaster TVOne that a 22-metre long object had been found in waters about 32 metres deep, and a sonar was being used to identify it.

Divers would also be sent to check, he said.

The Rigel has been searching in an area about 5 nautical miles from the site where the aircraft lost contact.

The accident is the first to be reported involving the widely sold Boeing 737 MAX, an updated, more fuel-efficient version of the manufacturer's single-aisle jet.

The plane's blackboxes, as the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder are known, should help explain why the almost-new jet went down minutes after take-off.

Amid media speculation over the airworthiness of the aircraft, the transport minister suspended Lion Air's technical director and several technicians to facilitate the crash investigation.

The suspended technicians "issued the recommendations for that flight", the ministry said in a press release. It did not say how many technicians had been suspended.

An official of the national transport safety panel has said the plane had technical problems on its previous flight on Sunday, from the city of Denpasar on the resort island of Bali, including an issue over "unreliable airspeed".

Privately owned Lion Air, founded in 1999, said the aircraft had been in operation since August and was airworthy. The pilot and co-pilot had 11,000 hours of flying time between them, it said.

Lion Air chief executive Edward Sirait has acknowledged reports of technical problems with the aircraft, but said maintenance had been carried out "according to procedure" before it was cleared for flight again.

Investigators are looking into why the pilot had asked to return to base shortly after take-off, a request that ground control officials had granted, although the flight crashed soon after.

&nbsp;

Indonesian search and rescue workers believe they have found the fuselage of a Lion Air passenger jet that crashed with 189 people on board, and are also trying to confirm the origin of an underwater "ping" signal, officials said on Wednesday.

Indonesian search and rescue workers believe they have found the fuselage of a Lion Air passenger jet that crashed with 189 people on board, and are also trying to confirm the origin of an underwater "ping" signal, officials said on Wednesday. Ground staff lost touch with flight JT610 of Indonesian budget airline Lion Air 13 minutes after the Boeing 737 MAX 8 took off early on Monday from Jakarta, on its way to the tin-mining town of Pangkal Pinang. There were no survivors. Indonesia's military chief said he believed the plane had been located, and a transport safety official said divers would be sent to confirm the origin of a "ping" signal picked up by a search and rescue team late on Tuesday. "We strongly believe that we have found a part of the fuselage," armed forces chief Hadi Tjahjanto told broadcaster TV One. Speaking on board the navy ship KRI Rigel, navy official Colonel Haris Djoko Nugroho told broadcaster TVOne that a 22-metre long object had been found in waters about 32 metres deep, and a sonar was being used to identify it. Divers would also be sent to check, he said. The Rigel has been searching in an area about 5 nautical miles from the site where the aircraft lost contact. The accident is the first to be reported involving the widely sold Boeing 737 MAX, an updated, more fuel-efficient version of the manufacturer's single-aisle jet. The plane's blackboxes, as the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder are known, should help explain why the almost-new jet went down minutes after take-off. Amid media speculation over the airworthiness of the aircraft, the transport minister suspended Lion Air's technical director and several technicians to facilitate the crash investigation. The suspended technicians "issued the recommendations for that flight", the ministry said in a press release. It did not say how many technicians had been suspended. An official of the national transport safety panel has said the plane had technical problems on its previous flight on Sunday, from the city of Denpasar on the resort island of Bali, including an issue over "unreliable airspeed". Privately owned Lion Air, founded in 1999, said the aircraft had been in operation since August and was airworthy. The pilot and co-pilot had 11,000 hours of flying time between them, it said. Lion Air chief executive Edward Sirait has acknowledged reports of technical problems with the aircraft, but said maintenance had been carried out "according to procedure" before it was cleared for flight again. Investigators are looking into why the pilot had asked to return to base shortly after take-off, a request that ground control officials had granted, although the flight crashed soon after.

Indonesian search team may have found Lion Air's fuselage

Investigators hunt for Black Box of Lion Air plane

Indonesia on Tuesday stepped up a search for an airliner that plunged into the sea with all 189 aboard feared dead, deploying underwater beacons to trace its black box recorders and uncover why an almost-new plane crashed minutes after take-off.

Indonesia, one of the world's fastest-growing aviation markets, has a patchy safety record. With the now almost certain prospect of all on board having died, the crash is set to rank as the country's second-worst air disaster.

Ground staff lost contact with flight JT610 of budget airline Lion Air 13 minutes after the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft took off early on Monday from the airport in Jakarta, the capital, on its way to Indonesia's tin-mining region.

"Hopefully this morning we can find the wreckage or fuselage," Soerjanto Tjahjono, the head of a national transport safety panel, told Reuters, adding that an underwater acoustic beacon was deployed to locate the main body of the plane.

The search and rescue agency added that four sonar detectors were also being used in areas where aircraft debris was found a day earlier off the shore of Karawang, West Java, and 15 vessels were scouring the sea surface.

A helicopter circled over five rubber boats carrying about 36 rescuers, as some donned rubber suits, readying to dive.

Earlier, however, Yusuf Latif, the spokesman of the national search and rescue agency, had said finding survivors "would be a miracle", judging by the condition of the recovered debris and body parts.

In a statement, Lion Air said human remains were collected in 24 body bags after sweeps of the site of the crash, in waters about 30 to 35 metres (98 to 115 ft) deep roughly 15 km (nine miles) off the coast to the northeast of Jakarta.

The bags were taken to a hospital for identification, with more expected overnight, authorities told broadcaster Metro TV.

On tarpaulins at Jakarta's port, officers laid out items retrieved from the sea, ranging from oxygen bottles to personal effects such as wallets, a mobile telephone, cash and backpacks.

Although searchers halted efforts overnight, sonar vessels and an underwater drone kept up the hunt for the wreckage, where many victims were feared trapped, officials said.

A witness in Karawang said he had heard an explosion from the beach around the time the aircraft went down.

"I thought it was thunder, but it was different from thunder - 'Boom!' - It was loud," said Dadang Hambali.

On Monday, the US&nbsp;National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and Boeing Co said they were providing assistance in the crash investigation.

(For details of search, crash inquiry, please click on)

The accident is the first to be reported involving the widely sold Boeing 737 MAX, an updated, more fuel-efficient version of the manufacturer's workhorse single-aisle jet.

Privately owned Lion Air, founded in 1999, said the aircraft, which had been in operation since August, was airworthy, with its pilot and co-pilot together having amassed 11,000 hours of flying time.

The pilot of flight JT610, which was bound for Pangkal Pinang in the Bangka-Belitung tin-mining region, had asked to return to base (RTB) shortly after take-off about 6.20 a.m., with landing set for 7.20 a.m. in the city of Pangkal Pinang.

"An RTB was requested and had been approved but we're still trying to figure out the reason," Tjahjono told reporters on Monday.

No distress signal was received from the aircraft's emergency transmitter, search and rescue agency head Muhmmad Syaugi told a news conference.

The aircraft suffered a technical problem on a flight from the resort island of Bali to Jakarta on Sunday night but it was "resolved according to procedure", Edward Sirait, chief executive of Lion Air Group, told reporters.

Sirait declined to specify the nature of the issue but said none of the airline's other aircraft of that model had the same problem. Lion had operated 11 Boeing 737 MAX 8s and it had no plan to ground the rest of them, he said.

Indonesia's worst air disaster was in 1997, when a Garuda Indonesia A300 crashed in the city of Medan, killing 234 people.

Indonesia on Tuesday stepped up a search for an airliner that plunged into the sea with all 189 aboard feared dead, deploying underwater beacons to trace its black box recorders and uncover why an almost-new plane crashed minutes after take-off.

Indonesia on Tuesday stepped up a search for an airliner that plunged into the sea with all 189 aboard feared dead, deploying underwater beacons to trace its black box recorders and uncover why an almost-new plane crashed minutes after take-off. Indonesia, one of the world's fastest-growing aviation markets, has a patchy safety record. With the now almost certain prospect of all on board having died, the crash is set to rank as the country's second-worst air disaster. Ground staff lost contact with flight JT610 of budget airline Lion Air 13 minutes after the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft took off early on Monday from the airport in Jakarta, the capital, on its way to Indonesia's tin-mining region. "Hopefully this morning we can find the wreckage or fuselage," Soerjanto Tjahjono, the head of a national transport safety panel, told Reuters, adding that an underwater acoustic beacon was deployed to locate the main body of the plane. The search and rescue agency added that four sonar detectors were also being used in areas where aircraft debris was found a day earlier off the shore of Karawang, West Java, and 15 vessels were scouring the sea surface. A helicopter circled over five rubber boats carrying about 36 rescuers, as some donned rubber suits, readying to dive. Earlier, however, Yusuf Latif, the spokesman of the national search and rescue agency, had said finding survivors "would be a miracle", judging by the condition of the recovered debris and body parts. In a statement, Lion Air said human remains were collected in 24 body bags after sweeps of the site of the crash, in waters about 30 to 35 metres (98 to 115 ft) deep roughly 15 km (nine miles) off the coast to the northeast of Jakarta. The bags were taken to a hospital for identification, with more expected overnight, authorities told broadcaster Metro TV. On tarpaulins at Jakarta's port, officers laid out items retrieved from the sea, ranging from oxygen bottles to personal effects such as wallets, a mobile telephone, cash and backpacks. Although searchers halted efforts overnight, sonar vessels and an underwater drone kept up the hunt for the wreckage, where many victims were feared trapped, officials said. A witness in Karawang said he had heard an explosion from the beach around the time the aircraft went down. "I thought it was thunder, but it was different from thunder - 'Boom!' - It was loud," said Dadang Hambali. On Monday, the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and Boeing Co said they were providing assistance in the crash investigation. (For details of search, crash inquiry, please click on) The accident is the first to be reported involving the widely sold Boeing 737 MAX, an updated, more fuel-efficient version of the manufacturer's workhorse single-aisle jet. Privately owned Lion Air, founded in 1999, said the aircraft, which had been in operation since August, was airworthy, with its pilot and co-pilot together having amassed 11,000 hours of flying time. The pilot of flight JT610, which was bound for Pangkal Pinang in the Bangka-Belitung tin-mining region, had asked to return to base (RTB) shortly after take-off about 6.20 a.m., with landing set for 7.20 a.m. in the city of Pangkal Pinang. "An RTB was requested and had been approved but we're still trying to figure out the reason," Tjahjono told reporters on Monday. No distress signal was received from the aircraft's emergency transmitter, search and rescue agency head Muhmmad Syaugi told a news conference. The aircraft suffered a technical problem on a flight from the resort island of Bali to Jakarta on Sunday night but it was "resolved according to procedure", Edward Sirait, chief executive of Lion Air Group, told reporters. Sirait declined to specify the nature of the issue but said none of the airline's other aircraft of that model had the same problem. Lion had operated 11 Boeing 737 MAX 8s and it had no plan to ground the rest of them, he said. Indonesia's worst air disaster was in 1997, when a Garuda Indonesia A300 crashed in the city of Medan, killing 234 people.

Indonesia hunts for victims, wreckage of air crash; survivors seem unlikely

The Lion Air Boeing 737 MAX jet that <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/indonesia-hunts-for-victims-wreckage-of-air-crash-survivors-seen-unlikely-174334">crashed in&nbsp;Indonesia&nbsp;on Monday morning</a> flew erratically during a flight the previous evening when it experienced a "technical problem", according to data from flight tracking website FlightRadar24.

After taking off from Denpasar on the holiday island of Bali on Sunday evening, the jet reported unusual variations in altitude and airspeed in the first several minutes of flight - including an 875-foot drop over 27 seconds when it would normally be ascending - before stabilising and flying on to Jakarta.

However, the pilots kept the plane at a maximum altitude of 28,000 feet compared with 36,000 feet on the same route earlier in the week.

Lion Air CEO Edward Sirait told reporters on Monday a technical problem had occurred on the Denpasar-Jakarta flight but it had been resolved "according to procedure".

Two of that flight's passengers posted on Instagram, reporting that they had been concerned about problems with the air conditioning system and cabin lighting before the plane departed nearly three hours late.

"I was angry because as a passenger who had paid her ticket, we have every right to question the aircraft's safety," said one of them, TV presenter Conchita Caroline. She added there was a "weird" engine noise upon take-off that continued during flight.

It was not clear if the cabin problems were in any way related to the technical trouble mentioned by the airline's CEO.

The Denpasar-Jakarta flight landed at 10:55 p.m. local time on Sunday, giving engineers six-and-a-half hours at most for checks before it was dispatched for the fatal Jakarta-Pangkal Pinang flight at 6:20 am&nbsp;on Monday.

The plane plunged into the sea minutes after taking off from Jakarta and all 189 people on board are believed dead.

FlightRadar24 also reported unusual air speeds and altitudes in the few minutes that Flight JT610 was in the air on Monday.

Photos of alleged technical and maintenance logs following the Sunday flight have been circulating online, but to date they have not been verified as accurate by the airline or investigators.

Sirait declined to detail the maintenance procedures taken, and on Tuesday he told Reuters the airline had provided the relevant aircraft flight and maintenance logs to&nbsp;Indonesia's National Transporation Safety Committee.

NTSC Chairman Soerjanto Tjahjono said there was a similarity between the maintenance log circulating online and the one received from Lion Air but he had not checked the exact details.

Safety experts say the crash investigation is at a very preliminary stage and it is too early to speculate about the cause.

But pilot and engineering sources told Reuters the FlightRadar24 data for both flights, while not conclusive, could be a potential indicator of something wrong with the pitot static systems. Those are pressure-sensitive instruments that feed airspeed and altitude information to an avionics computer.

"Certainly the big changes in climb/descent very early on in the flight is what makes me think unreliable speed," said a pilot at another airline, who declined to be named because he was not authorised to speak to media.

NO NOISE

The data from FlightRadar24 shows the first sign that something was amiss on Monday's fated flight came about two minutes after take-off when the plane had reached 2,000 feet.

At that point, it descended more than 500 feet and veered to the left before climbing again to 5,000 feet, where it stayed during most of the rest of the flight.

It began gaining speed in the final moments and reached 345 knots (397 mph) before data was lost when it was at 3,650 feet.

"They were going way faster than you would normally expect," said a second pilot at another airline.

Two fishermen who saw the crash from their boat out at sea told Reuters that the plane swayed slightly but made no noise as it fell, almost horizontal with its nose slightly down. There was an explosive sound as it plunged nose-first into the sea, and then there was a column of smoke.

The weather was clear at the time of the crash at 6:33 a.m. on Monday, according to the head ofIndonesia's transport safety committee, who said the pilots had requested a turnback to Jakarta.

A safe visual landing should have been possible even with faulty indicators and a lack of autopilot systems, the pilot sources said.

In July, a Malaysia Airlines flight took off from Brisbane, Australia without removing covers on the pitot tubes.

The pilots landed the Airbus SE A330 safely after obtaining groundspeed information from air traffic control and using the jet's radar altimeter, according to a preliminary report from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau. There were no reported injuries.

In 2009, Air France flight 447 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean after icing that blocked the pitot tubes caused unreliable airspeed data and the confused pilots entered a high-altitude stall and ignored cockpit alarms, according to a report from France's BEA. All 228 people on board died.

The Lion Air Boeing 737 MAX jet that crashed in Indonesia on Monday morning flew erratically during a flight the previous evening when it experienced a "technical problem", according to data from flight tracking website FlightRadar24.

The Lion Air Boeing 737 MAX jet that crashed in Indonesia on Monday morning flew erratically during a flight the previous evening when it experienced a "technical problem", according to data from flight tracking website FlightRadar24. After taking off from Denpasar on the holiday island of Bali on Sunday evening, the jet reported unusual variations in altitude and airspeed in the first several minutes of flight - including an 875-foot drop over 27 seconds when it would normally be ascending - before stabilising and flying on to Jakarta. However, the pilots kept the plane at a maximum altitude of 28,000 feet compared with 36,000 feet on the same route earlier in the week. Lion Air CEO Edward Sirait told reporters on Monday a technical problem had occurred on the Denpasar-Jakarta flight but it had been resolved "according to procedure". Two of that flight's passengers posted on Instagram, reporting that they had been concerned about problems with the air conditioning system and cabin lighting before the plane departed nearly three hours late. "I was angry because as a passenger who had paid her ticket, we have every right to question the aircraft's safety," said one of them, TV presenter Conchita Caroline. She added there was a "weird" engine noise upon take-off that continued during flight. It was not clear if the cabin problems were in any way related to the technical trouble mentioned by the airline's CEO. The Denpasar-Jakarta flight landed at 10:55 p.m. local time on Sunday, giving engineers six-and-a-half hours at most for checks before it was dispatched for the fatal Jakarta-Pangkal Pinang flight at 6:20 am on Monday. The plane plunged into the sea minutes after taking off from Jakarta and all 189 people on board are believed dead. FlightRadar24 also reported unusual air speeds and altitudes in the few minutes that Flight JT610 was in the air on Monday. Photos of alleged technical and maintenance logs following the Sunday flight have been circulating online, but to date they have not been verified as accurate by the airline or investigators. Sirait declined to detail the maintenance procedures taken, and on Tuesday he told Reuters the airline had provided the relevant aircraft flight and maintenance logs to Indonesia's National Transporation Safety Committee. NTSC Chairman Soerjanto Tjahjono said there was a similarity between the maintenance log circulating online and the one received from Lion Air but he had not checked the exact details. Safety experts say the crash investigation is at a very preliminary stage and it is too early to speculate about the cause. But pilot and engineering sources told Reuters the FlightRadar24 data for both flights, while not conclusive, could be a potential indicator of something wrong with the pitot static systems. Those are pressure-sensitive instruments that feed airspeed and altitude information to an avionics computer. "Certainly the big changes in climb/descent very early on in the flight is what makes me think unreliable speed," said a pilot at another airline, who declined to be named because he was not authorised to speak to media. NO NOISE The data from FlightRadar24 shows the first sign that something was amiss on Monday's fated flight came about two minutes after take-off when the plane had reached 2,000 feet. At that point, it descended more than 500 feet and veered to the left before climbing again to 5,000 feet, where it stayed during most of the rest of the flight. It began gaining speed in the final moments and reached 345 knots (397 mph) before data was lost when it was at 3,650 feet. "They were going way faster than you would normally expect," said a second pilot at another airline. Two fishermen who saw the crash from their boat out at sea told Reuters that the plane swayed slightly but made no noise as it fell, almost horizontal with its nose slightly down. There was an explosive sound as it plunged nose-first into the sea, and then there was a column of smoke. The weather was clear at the time of the crash at 6:33 a.m. on Monday, according to the head ofIndonesia's transport safety committee, who said the pilots had requested a turnback to Jakarta. A safe visual landing should have been possible even with faulty indicators and a lack of autopilot systems, the pilot sources said. In July, a Malaysia Airlines flight took off from Brisbane, Australia without removing covers on the pitot tubes. The pilots landed the Airbus SE A330 safely after obtaining groundspeed information from air traffic control and using the jet's radar altimeter, according to a preliminary report from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau. There were no reported injuries. In 2009, Air France flight 447 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean after icing that blocked the pitot tubes caused unreliable airspeed data and the confused pilots entered a high-altitude stall and ignored cockpit alarms, according to a report from France's BEA. All 228 people on board died.

Indonesian Lion Air jet flew erratically day before it crashed with 189 on board

Lion Air's plane was almost brand new. <a href="http://www.wionews.com/south-east-asia/lion-air-plane-crash-body-parts-found-as-rescue-agency-says-likely-all-189-aboard-crashed-jet-dead-174197">It was flown for the first time on August 15th</a>, and the airline said it had been certified as airworthy before Monday's flight by an engineer who is a specialist in Boeing models.

The Boeing 737 MAX 8 literally fell out of the sky near where the two men were fishing about 15 km (9 miles) off the coast, silently at first and then with a deafening crash as it smacked into the sea.

The plane dropped more than 500 feet (152 metres), veered to the left and then started climbing again to 5,000 feet (1,524 metres). It gained speed in the final moments before data was lost when it was at an altitude of 3,650 feet (1,113 metres).

The Boeing 737 MAX 8 is the most recent model of Boeing's famous 737, the US company's best-selling plane, and is a popular choice among budget airlines around the world.

Lion Air Chief Executive Edward Sirait said on Monday that the plane had encountered an unspecified "technical issue" on its previous flight, which was from the resort island of Bali to Jakarta, but this had been "resolved according to procedure".

"We don't dare to say what the facts are, or are not, yet," he told reporters. "We are also confused about the why, since it was a new plane."

The captain of Monday's flight JT610 from Jakarta to Pangkal Pinang, the main town on Bangka, a beach-fringed island off Sumatra, was Bhavye Suneja, a 31-year-old Indian citizen originally from New Delhi. He and an Italian passenger were the only known foreigners on board.

According to his Linkedin account, Suneja had worked for Lion Air since 2011, clocking up some 6,000 flight hours. On Facebook there are photos of him in his Lion Air uniform, smiling.

Minutes after take-off at 6:20 am, Suneja reported technical difficulties and obtained permission from ground officials to turn back.

Data from FlightRadar24 showed&nbsp;the first sign of something amiss was around two minutes into the flight, when the plane had reached 2,000 feet (610 metres).

Lion Air's plane was almost brand new. It was flown for the first time on August 15th, and the airline said it had been certified as airworthy before Monday's flight by an engineer who is a specialist in Boeing models.

Lion Air's plane was almost brand new. It was flown for the first time on August 15th, and the airline said it had been certified as airworthy before Monday's flight by an engineer who is a specialist in Boeing models. The Boeing 737 MAX 8 literally fell out of the sky near where the two men were fishing about 15 km (9 miles) off the coast, silently at first and then with a deafening crash as it smacked into the sea. The plane dropped more than 500 feet (152 metres), veered to the left and then started climbing again to 5,000 feet (1,524 metres). It gained speed in the final moments before data was lost when it was at an altitude of 3,650 feet (1,113 metres). The Boeing 737 MAX 8 is the most recent model of Boeing's famous 737, the US company's best-selling plane, and is a popular choice among budget airlines around the world. Lion Air Chief Executive Edward Sirait said on Monday that the plane had encountered an unspecified "technical issue" on its previous flight, which was from the resort island of Bali to Jakarta, but this had been "resolved according to procedure". "We don't dare to say what the facts are, or are not, yet," he told reporters. "We are also confused about the why, since it was a new plane." The captain of Monday's flight JT610 from Jakarta to Pangkal Pinang, the main town on Bangka, a beach-fringed island off Sumatra, was Bhavye Suneja, a 31-year-old Indian citizen originally from New Delhi. He and an Italian passenger were the only known foreigners on board. According to his Linkedin account, Suneja had worked for Lion Air since 2011, clocking up some 6,000 flight hours. On Facebook there are photos of him in his Lion Air uniform, smiling. Minutes after take-off at 6:20 am, Suneja reported technical difficulties and obtained permission from ground officials to turn back. Data from FlightRadar24 showed the first sign of something amiss was around two minutes into the flight, when the plane had reached 2,000 feet (610 metres).

Lion Air's plane was almost brand new, was recent model of Boeing's 737 aircraft

WION Dispatch: Lion Air plane crashes in sea off Jakarta; rescue ops underway

Indonesia rescuers retrieve body parts from Lion Air crash site