Lion Air crash: flight disaster is the latest aviation tragedy in this region of Southeast Asia

‘Boeing stands ready to provide technical assistance to the accident investigation,’ says the plane maker

The cause of the worst aviation tragedy so far this year will take time to be identified. But as the search for nearly 190 victims aboard Lion Air flight 610 gets under way, investigators will consider a wide range of possibilities from mechanical failure to malice.

The “black boxes” – the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder – will provide vital information about what happened to the almost-new Boeing 737 MAX. They should provide information on the control commands on the flight deck, and conversations between the captain and first officer.

Yet in an era when aviation is achieving unprecedented levels of safety, the crash will focus close attention on the recent tragic history of aviation in the region.

On 28 September, a Boeing 737 belonging to Air Niugini crashed in a lagoon on the Micronesian island of Chuuk.

Initially it was believed that all the passengers and crew aboard had survived. But during a second search of the half-submerged cabin, the body of a passenger was discovered.

Lion Air suffered a similar accident in 2013 when a Boeing 737 overshot the runway at Bali’s Denpasar Airport on a domestic flight from Bandung. The fuselage broke up as the aircraft came to a halt in shallow water, but all 108 people on board survived.

The subsequent investigation by Indonesia’s National Transportation Safety Committee found that the pilots displayed a lack of “situational awareness” as they descended towards the runway in a downpour, and tried to “go around” at an altitude of only 20 feet – 30 feet too low for the aircraft type.

The report also criticised Lion Air’s training of crew for evacuating aircraft.

Two years earlier, a Lion Air flight overshot the runway at Sepinggan Airport in the Indonesian part of Borneo. There were no casualties.

Lion Air is one of the fastest-growing South East Asian airlines, with a huge order book for Boeing 737 and Airbus A330 aircraft. It competes intensely with the national carrier, Garuda, and Air Asia Indonesia.

In December 2014, an Airbus A320 belonging to Air Asia Indonesia crashed in the sea on a routine flight from Surabaya to Singapore. The final accident report identified a chain of events that began with a faulty solder joint on a rudder travel limiter unit and continued with confused and inappropriate responses by the pilots.

All Indonesian carriers were placed on the EU Air Safety List in 2007 due to “unaddressed safety concerns”. The blacklist bans or restricts operations within the European Union by airlines that are believed not to meet international safety standards.

Seven airlines, including Lion Air, were removed from the list in the past few years, but the bulk of Indonesian carriers remained banned until June 2018.

When lifting the ban, the transport commissioner Violeta Bulc said: “I am particularly glad that after years of work, we are today able to clear all air carriers from Indonesia. It shows that hard work and close cooperation pay off.”

The latest crash involved a relatively new aircraft type, the MAX version of the Boeing 737.

Immediately after the Lion Air loss, the planemaker Boeing issued a short statement saying:

“The Boeing Company is deeply saddened by the loss of Flight JT 610. We express our concern for those on board, and extend heartfelt sympathies to their families and loved ones.

“Boeing stands ready to provide technical assistance to the accident investigation.”

Initial speculation on pilots’ online forums centred on reports of possible airspeed and altitude indicator malfunctions.